Seven Crystal Shards
by Proto Dragon Writer
Summary: Cynder finds herself in the midsts of a new crisis, even after seven years of peace someone has been secretly up to something. And now the plot is starting to thicken and grow. Cynder now has to face a new enemy without the help of her old, and new, friends. how will she get herself out of this situation? Rated M for gore, violence, and possible NSFW scenes. (FPP Story)
1. I - Dark Dreams

_**I - Dark Dreams**_

It's been nearly seven years now since Malefor's disappearance and I've been having these strange...lucid dreams. I've been very reluctant to tell anyone about them as they mostly seem very embarrassing or they are harbingers of my more darker past. Henceforth I even don't tell Spyro… He'd start telling everyone else and well, the secret will be out. Sure I couldn't lie to him, but these are something I should keep from him. I stand before everyone in the courtyard of Warfang, the Dragon City. I'm not sure what I was called here for...but it was most certainly for something important, as Spyro, Bläyz, and Adäh were here with me. So was Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer. As Terrador laid down the situation I was starting to remember why I was called here. I vaguely remember Cyril coming to my room and talking to me. He said something about…-

"Crystal Shards. We need these Crystal Shards. They hold the lifeblood of every creature living in the past. Someone is stealing them. Whoever here has a clue as to why these are happening...Please. Tell any one of us Guardians, or one of these four. About anything you may have seen, heard or talked about before. Thank you, that will be all. And remember, keep a lookout!" Terrador had concluded his small speech about these so-called Crystal Shards and proceeded back to his chamber in the Council Building, same with Volteer and Cyril.

"Come with us you four… We shall discuss this matter even more in private.." Cyril turned to us, giving this deep, concerned stare. "Please. It is very important."

"Of… Of course Cyril!" I spoke up, turning to the others. "Come on guys."

We made our way to Council Building with the Guardians. Walking into the meeting room, everyone took their seats. I didn't get much time to look around as we were all hurried into the room. All the guardians sat in their respective seats, me taking the open seat next to Cyril, Adäh, and Bläyz taking their seats opposite Terrador, and Spyro taking the seat that would be Ignitus seat. I took a good look at the other dragons sitting at the table with me. Everyone seemed tense, uneasy, very uncommon that they would all be so silent.

"Tell me… Why are we here Terrador..? How important is this meeting that we have to be pulled into private?" Bläyz spoke up finally, breaking the silence. "I mean… If it's actually about someone in particular...then...what is it?"

Terrador stared eye-to-eye with my fur friend, shaking his head softly. "Today, we have gathered you all here because we have someone very important to discuss, and they do relate to the stole Crystal Shards. Volteer if you could." Terrador turned to the yellow guardian and nodded.

"Of course Terrador. Now! Cynder, Spyro, we have called you and your friends here because, for one, each of you has this innate ability to master certain elements, which of course is special, and no other dragon could possibly possess. A few days ago we have surmised that the possibility of another dragon stealing the Crystal Shards very possible. As these Crystal Shards are only known to select few dragons. Those being us guardians, the Chronicler, and a few others out in the world." Volteer stared around the room as he spoke, looking over the four of us spread out amongst the table.

"But Volteer," I turned to him to speak "how do you expect us to find this unknown dragon?"

"Ah! I was just getting to that young one. You see, we have a few leads on the whereabouts of these few lone wolf dragons." Volteer turned to Cyril, who nodded and stood up.

"Volteer is correct. As you can see here," the ice elemental guardian tapped his claw gently on the table two times, and the table center sprung forth with some sort of mystical energy, revealing a sparkling blue map "the last known locations of these lone dragons are recorded here on this map." Cyril pointed to the first marked location. "One here in the Twilight Falls." He then moved on to the next. "One here at Duskdawn Coast." He pointed to the final one. "And the last one here at Medivah Valley."

"One quick question Cyril," Spyro asked, a slight tilted in his head. "how did you all know the Crystal Shards were being stolen in the first place?"

"Ah yes. We know because each of us Guardians has a strong connection with these shards. Every year we gather them and check to make sure all seven are accounted for. After finding all seven we then combine the shards into one crystal. The Ætherial Crystal. This crystal holds the powers of every known element to us dragons, along with the ones long forgotten that our ancestors knew."

"So that's why this crystal is so important.." I give a small nod and rub of my own chin, looking down to the sparkling map as it slowly faded from sight and the grey table top was revealed once more. "I see what we need to do now.."

"Wonderful! I suggest you all make haste and be on your way. We have to obtain all the Crystal Shards before this rouge shard stealer can get anymore." Volteer perked his head and gave each of us a nod of approval. We then got out of our seats and headed for the main hall doors. As we walked out into the main hall I could now get a good look at the surroundings, as this was only my second visit to the Council Building. The walls were lined with marble and opal as it seemed, and there were many, many doors. Large doors at that. Though most of these rooms were empty or unused. I must have gotten lost in the corridors as Spyro and the others weren't around anymore. Though… It was strange… It was like I was the only one there. It was oddly silent and dormant for a place that echoed the sounds of dragons and moles alike.

 _-Cynder… Cyyynder….-_

There was this strange voice in my head, or at least I thought It was in my head, but it was so quiet in the corridor that it was hard to tell.

 _-Come to me, Cynder… I can not be alone Cynder… Come, and find me…-_

The voice echoed like a ghast in my ears, hard to get rid of without talking. "But...who are you? And how do you know my name?"

 _-I know many things young dragon… Come to me… Reunite me with my kin… I shall explain… later…-_

I could feel my mind slipping away into sleep. But here...now? How? I wasn't tired in the slightest! Something was up.

 _-Come...to...me...Cynder….-_

The voice faded from my consciousness, but I soon lost it, and fell flat on my side, passing out right then and there. I wasn't sure how long I was unconscious for but for one thing I suddenly woke up. Though...I wasn't in the Council building anymore. I was outside, in some far away grassland. I could tell was above land though as the clouds were under me, all around where I was standing.

 _-Welcome, Cynder… To the Dawn Grasslands…-_

"But...Why am I here? And how did I get here?" I had so many questions as to what was going on. "And who are you? You still have that to answer."

 _-You are still asleep, but I have brought your subconscious here… To witness… Two outcomes…-_

The voice spoke so calmly, soothingly. I had nothing to worry about besides the fact of who this was exactly.

 _-I know you must have many...many questions, Cynder… For one…-_

The voice stopped for a moment as a dark, purple light filled the space in front of me. I wasn't sure what was coming but I stood still and hoped for the best. Soon, a ghostly figure appeared, draconic in a way. Though...it had the similar body structure to Spyro, yet most of my features, and it even stood on two legs, unlike most dragons around where I'm from.

 _-I...I am Neztal. One of the souls destined to guard one of the dragons able to master four elements. I am shaped by your features and your best male's body structure...for an easier...connection between soul, and host.-_

"Okay...Neztal… Why have you brought me here...I mean… My subconscious… here?"

 _-I have brought you here… Because I have information...about the oncoming threat you and your friends are going to face… Here… Come with me…-_

I look around for a small moment before nodding and stand up fully. He guided me along the way to a large mirror pool. I could see myself, and Neztal, in the reflection of the mirror pool. "What is this mirror pool for?"

 _-Shhh… Close your eyes...and hold your breath…-_

I looked to the spectral dragon hesitantly before nodding gently. I closed my eyes and take a deep breath before holding it, waiting for whatever was about to happen.

 _-Do not open your eyes until I say so... -_ I nod and continue to wait. I can feel his paw on the back of my head, and suddenly, my head was forced down into the mirror pool, though I continued to hold my breath, eyes remained closed until he said so. _-Now… Open them… and tell me what you see…-_ I open my eyes and gasp in horror. Warfang was turned to rubble, I could see myself and what looked like Adäh standing next to me. There was...another large dragon standing in front of us, though I couldn't make out the face or any distinct details. As soon as I was about to pull my head up from the mirror pool my gaze turned to see my purple dragon friend approach the field but...something was wrong with him. He looked decrypted...almost like...a rotting corpse… The large pastel green dragon raised his wings and seemed to speak some ancient language before the walking corpse of Spyro began to charge at me, and lunge toward me, but Adäh jumped in front of me and he instead was pinned to the ground. He said something to me, and handed me what looked like one of the Crystal shards before it seemed like he was torn to pieces by that necrotic body of the purple dragon. I couldn't take it anymore, watching this was too much and I quickly pulled my head up, gasping for breath. _-Tell me… What did… you see Cynder..?-_

"Horror… Chaos…" I turned to the soul who was my accompaniment for now. "I didn't like it one bit… I saw Adäh… and myself...and Spyro...and a large dragon… I'm not sure I've ever seen that green dragon before but Spyro… Spyro on the other hand was...he...was…" I could feel a tear running down my cheek, I quickly wiped it away, this was not the time to be thinking of emotions. "He was dead but...not really… It was hard to tell but He seemed to be...undead. And my friend Adäh… He was killed by Spyro...right in front of me."

 _-Yes… Just as… I thought… Cynder...that is the future you and your friends shall face if things keep going the way they do… Cynder… You mustn't let the guardians… reunite the crystals… Destroy the shards… Or suffer that fate…-_

"I can't just do that though! What...What if you're wrong...You must be wrong!" I stepped back from the mirror pool and shook my head. The sky became dark and so did the ground.

 _-You will...learn in time… Young Cynder… There is still much you have yet… To learnnnnnnnnn….-_

The voice faded as I soon found myself floating in the endless, black void I was now stuck in. I tried moving, but I couldn't feel my wings or legs, nor my tail for that matter. I could hear another voice calling out my name in the void. I wasn't sure what or who it was, but a figure was starting to form, and it wasn't long till this...this figure started racing toward me. As hard as I tried I could still barely move a claw. As the figure got closer and closer I could see now that it was Spyro...but...just like the necrotic version I had seen in the mirror pool. He kept getting closer...and closer...and closer until he lept toward me. I could hear his raspy, hissing breath as clear as day, venom seemed to drip from his fangs. He grabbed me, and I suddenly regained feeling in my limbs but, he was too strong. "S-Spyro wait! Don't! It's me, Cynder!" He said no response, but instead with actions, he made a swift, single move, and bit down into my neck. I screamed out in pain, and suddenly awoke from the horrid nightmare. I was in my chamber, laying out on my bed. I was sitting up though and I quickly looked around, confused, afraid, and panting severely. Out of nowhere, Spyro, Bläyz and Adäh rushed into the room, looking over me with my fear filled face.

"Cynder what happened?! Are you alright? We heard screaming and came rushing back!" Spyro stumbled closer and looked over my body, inspecting for any possible damage. I couldn't tell him what happened… I didn't have the heart in me to say that Spyro...the one dragon that cares so much for me...was trying to kill me.

"I'm okay Spyro… Don't worry." I put my paw over my neck where the bite from my nightmare had been, and upon removing my paw and looking to it, I saw nothing. Thank goodness.

"We found you out in the fifth corridor, passed out on the ground… You were mumbling something but we couldn't understand you." Bläyz spoke out, standing by my side. "Are you sure you are okay? Is there anything you need to tell us?"

"No… No, nothing at all. Thank you for the concern though." I nod and smile softly.

"Okay… Please, if anything is bothering you or something is happening, let us know, okay?" Spyro had the deepest, utmost concern in his eyes. I gave another nod. They soon sighed, said their goodnights, and moved out of my chamber. "We will be leaving early noon, so be ready Cynder." He said before moving back to his own room. I sighed and laid back on my bed, slowly closing my eyes. That's when...he came back.


	2. II - Twilight on Dusk

_**II - Twilight on Dusk**_

I awoke in a sweaty pant this morning, feeling my body up with my paws. No cuts, bruises, or bite marks. Just another dream about that damned undead Spyro… Yet I knew he was alive… It was just after seeing him undead that one time was… more than enough to trigger these bad thoughts. I've also been thinking about what Neztal said… Destroy the shards to prevent this outcome. I shook my head a small bit and continued to take a few good looks around my chamber, inspecting more of the finer details for some time, thinking to myself, this will probably be one of the last times I'll be in here. It was morning still by the sounds of the birds outside my window. I sat up on my bed and sighed to myself, shaking my head a small bit. _Oh boy…_ I thought to myself.

"Wakey Wakey, eggs and some slightly overcooked pancakes!" I turned my head as I watched Bläyz come waltzing into my room, rear end first, carrying a large plate full of food, which ironically continued the same eggs and slightly overcooked pancakes she spoke of. She trotted up to the side of my bed and set down the large plate. "Spyro has been talking to me and Adäh all morning about what we should do and what course of action we should take on this whole situation. He talked about splitting up to cover more ground." Bläyz sat down by my side and shook her head softly and a sigh. "I worry about this one, Cynder. This seems a little too dangerous for me…"

"Hey hey… It will be okay… We just have to hope for the best and keep pushing through, okay?" I gave my fuzzy friend a small pat the head. I had known Bläyz for about 5 years now. I met her up in Dante's Freezer, along with Adäh. They both come from the same sort of region, a region very far away. They...didn't initially speak the same language as we did. Me and Spyro had gone out for the usual rescue mission that the guardians sent us on in Dante's Freezer, it always seemed to be in Dante's Freezer. This time around though we found two dragons instead of the usual one. We were uncertain of where they came from as they were covered from nose to tail tip in fur. I had always pronounced their names wrong. They spell it with a weird accent above the 'a' in each of their names. They said it's just because of where they were from, Scandinavia apparently… Me and Spyro certainly never heard of it so we assumed they must have been from a distant world, which was accurate, to say the least, there was no Scandinavia in the Dragon Realm. We took these fuzzed up dragons to the Guardians and they spoke of how they got here exactly. It was all too complicated for me to follow but Spyro seemed to certainly get it at least. Bläyz was my shot at the two. After she learned to speak our language, which took a great deal of time, of course, she told me that Adäh was her brother, which made sense, as they looked nearly identical. I had plenty of questions to ask her after she learned near perfect draconic, but now was not the time for that.

"Say Cynder, where did you and Spyro first meet?" Bläyz asked, looking over at me as I took a bite of the slightly overcooked pancakes. "I've always wondered how you two dragons met."

"Well Bläyz, I first met Spyro on a battlefield. It was between me, and him. We, well he, was much younger, and me, well… I was surrounded under the control of the Dark Master Malefor. His original goal was to defeat and kill me, but...for some reason he didn't. He never truly told me why he saved me all the years ago, but I am still grateful for what he did. Nearly killed himself in doing so too…" I gave a small sigh and shook my head a tiny bit, then looked over to Bläyz once again who was sitting there, listening rather attentively.

"Wow... Adäh never usually did anything like that with me! Well...probably because I'm his sister, and because we haven't really been in much danger either. But either that's very nice of him!" Bläyz smiled and nodded her head. She was the more cheery, scaredy cat of the two of them, which was fine mostly because for one, they aren't really the toughest of duos out there, so one of them has to at least become the stronger sibling.

"Yeah, no kidding… Spyro tells me all sorts of things that make me start to think that he's in love with me. Which I am fine with but… maybe not in this situation, not now. We have too much at stake here to start putting emotions before everything else." I sigh and turn my head to the side a bit before Bläyz patted my back, singing calmingly to me in her native language. It was very pretty to listen to of course. After that short while, I was calm again, and my short little panic attack was gone. Thank goodness.

"Come on Cynder, we have to get going now, it's almost time!" Bläyz told me as she soon grabbed my wrist and pulled me up onto my four paws, then lead me out of my chamber. I barely had time to get ready, but I didn't have much to get ready with anyways.

We came to the now barren opening of the Dragon City Gate, there was no one around strangely to see us off or anything.

"Okay everyone, gather close!" Spyro trying to be the team captain as always, waved us over to see what exactly the game plan was. "Okay guys, today is the day. Are we all ready?" In unison, we all said yes, Spyro nodded and continued. "Alright, good. So, we are going to split up. Each of us going a separate route towards each of those locations we found on that map. I will go to Twilight Falls. Adäh, Bläyz, you two will go to Medivah Valley. Cynder, you will go to Duskdawn Coast. Once we find what we need, everyone meets up in the Timeless Plains, since that is in the middle of all our locations. Everyone knows where they are going and what they need to do? If so they good, break!" Spyro said with a swift nod, flick of his tail, and flap of his wings, he waved us off and quickly took to the sky. Adäh and Bläyz both came close and gave me a quick hug before sending themselves off to Medivah Valley.

"Be safe Cynder!" Adäh told me before they two of them took to the sky as well, leaving me alone near the gate. Just as I was about to take off in the direction towards Duskdawn Coast I felt that same drowsiness overcome my mind and it was quickly taking its effect on me.

"Ugh… Why...now…" I groaned out before flopping over suddenly onto my side.

 _-Welcome back...Cynder…-_

It was Neztal again, but...why now? I soon reawakened in the Dawn Grasslands once more, and I looked around once more before shaking my head. I turned to my left, hoping to assume Neztal was there, and well, he was. "Why have you brought me back Neztal? Is there something you need to tell me?"

 _-Yes… I have called you back… Because you are not ready to take on the threat in Duskdawn Coast yet… We have to… Reawaken your dormant powers… First… We start with the most basic… your elemental power of Poison…-_

"Okay but… how do we do that?" I asked him, so curious about how this will work.

 _-Here...-_ Neztal guided me towards the mirror pool once again, though this time he waved his paw over it, and the water began to disappear and soon in its place, a pool of acid. _-To complete your unlock… you must submerge your body in this pool of acid. If you truly can harness the power of Poison once more then you should be able to come out unscathed… If not… Then we shall try again once you have healed…-_

"W-wait a minute… Are you saying I could die in this?!" I was genuinely scared, thinking I could actually melt in that pool of acid! The thought of it ran through my head like a thousand dolphins breaching the ocean's surface.

 _-No… You will not die… but you will become severely damaged… And lose most of your skin, scales, and muscles… I can heal you no problem… Now… Let us… Begin…-_ I looked to Neztal, shaken and afraid, but he had trust in his eyes, and I had to trust for that. After all, he was the soul sent to protect me. I sighed and glanced into the menacing pool of bubbling acid before slowly stepping in.

"H-Holy… F-fuck… It burns…" For once in my life I cursed. And I wasn't ashamed of it. I was now basically an adult dragon now, ready for anything. I could feel the acid burning my scales, my skin, and leaking in through the holes where my claws sat in my paws. But there was no backing out now. I quickly laid flat in the acid and I felt my body falling into the suddenly deep pond. Every fiber of my being was in pain. The acid was so strong, so potent. It seeped into my nostrils and down my throat, burning the inside of my body. I could feel it working its way further into my body, almost as if by magic it was working its way deeper and deeper until it reached my core. When for a moment, I was for sure thinking I would die, I couldn't feel the pain anymore. My body seemed to glow in the dark green pond, and I was violently pushed up and out, where the pool turned shallow and back to its normal mirror pool style. I panted and gasped out for breath, laying there. My body had still taken severe damage nonetheless. I looked down to see most of my foreleg eaten away by the acid, nothing but the bone and tendons connecting them together. Same with my tail, a hind paw, and my left wing. I wasn't sure of it, but I swear I couldn't see out of my left eye anymore either. "G-gods above… That was more pain than I've ever felt before…"

 _-It is okay Cynder… You have survived the test… and now you can use the element of poison at will… Now I shall heal you… and let you be on your way…-_ Neztal nodded his head and gently laid his glowing paw on my seemingly broken, acid-eaten body, and I could feel my strength returning to me and my body being repaired with this weird magic I was unfamiliar with. After a few minutes I could feel my paws again, then my tail, and soon my wing. Even my full eyesight had returned. _-Well done Cynder… It is time for you to go… I shall call you again when it is time…-_ And with that, Neztal disappeared, and so did the Dawn Grasslands. I found myself in the black void again, and suddenly, I woke up. I found myself laying on the ground near the main gate still. It was still a little past noon so that means not a lot of time passed luckily. I quickly got the energy to get up and I started to go towards my first destination, the Duskdawn Coast.

I soon approached the Duskdawn Coast, looking around for any sort of sign that would allow me to have a safe landing. I flew around the Coast for a good several minutes before spotting a small building near the rocky cliffside. I touched down on the soft sand and stepped toward the door. "Hello? Is anyone home? Helloooooooo?" I stepped up to the door and knocked on it softly, waiting for a few moments before looking over to a window to the left of the door. I took a peer in and I perked my head. The window was open and there was a bloodied dragon on the inside. I quickly dived through the window and made my way to the bloodied dragon on the ground. "Hello? Are you okay? Sir…?" Upon closer inspection, I saw that there was no chest rise or anything. I gently rolled the body over onto its back and what nearly made me throw up. Now I know I seem like a dragoness that should be used to this sort of thing, but I'm not. The dragon down by my feet had a gaping hole in his abdomen, most of his internal organs missing and his body seemed mostly just lifeless and heavily dull, his eyes were even whitened over. "Oh, dear gods... " I looked away and huffed out my breath before sighing gently.

I turned to go look along the rest of the shoreline before I felt something grab my tail. I quickly turned once again and I looked to see that same gutted dragon standing up, his paws wrapped around my tail just before the blade tip. I couldn't flick it around very well so there was no way I could get it free. I jerked my tail forward and to the side of me, seeing the horrid of an undead dragon go flying past me and out the window. I quickly ran outside to run but to my surprise, there were more than just the one. It seems they have been waiting for me. And here I am. Well...guess I am fighting for the first time in 3 years now. Here, we, go.


	3. III - First of Seven

_**III - The First of Seven**_

They were surrounding me quickly, these...hollow husks of dragons, small and large alike. I wasn't sure what to do but keep up on my guard and hope for the best. They hissed at me, their voices raspy and hoarse. They clearly had no intention means of talking or negotiating. "God...damn it… Fine. If I have to fight… then I fucking will…" I spoke out the hissing horde of undead dragons. I readied my claws and my tail, getting into a fighting position before I stepped back a bit to give myself the distance I needed to ready myself. I looked over the undead, seeking out whichever ones would be either the weakest or strongest to go up against. Though knowing from the now recent dreams I've been having they could easily pin me and rip me apart. I had to be extremely careful.

The first of many came stumbling toward me and I flicked my tail forward, growling, daring it to come closer. Of course, they only had one objective and it was to kill me so there wasn't much for intimidation. The dragon pounced toward me and I quickly spot dodged out of the way, and quickly which gears as I quickly literally stabbed it in the head. I could hear every crunch and crack the weakened, rotting skull made when that blade on my tail tip penetrated it. I pulled my tail away and quickly cut the dragon's head in half, letting it fall dead to the floor next to me. That was the first time I ever really stabbed anything with my tail...and it was clearly very effective. As soon as the first one fell, three more started my way, all running at me now with hastened intent. I quickly dodged and rolled out of the way, slashing my claws at the scales of the undead as quick as I could. These fuckers clearly weren't slow in response time now that they knew what was up. I responded as quickly as I could to every move they made. After such a quick and swift end with these three, I had made work on their bodies. Cutten and slashed, rotting old blood oozing out from their bodies. My claws weren't enough to cut through their bones, but my tail sure was. I ran around their sides and kicked them into a giant clump as I quickly punctured my tail tip through their skulls, killing each one swiftly and with easy. They may have been strong but they didn't have much strategy to their fighting styles. What else am I suppose to expect from the undead horde though? Suddenly I found more and more approaching me, I could feel a sense of starting to be overwhelmed, so I took to the skies, but one of them grabbed my tail before I could get any further in the sky and I found myself quickly down on the ground again.

"H-hey! Let me go you damn necro dragon!" I thrashed and twisted as I felt the many paws and bones of the undead slash at my scales and puncture through the skin. Each one made me scream out in pain and thrash harder. I then stabbed one through the chest with my tail and swing it around like a club, knocking over a few which allowed me to escape now. I threw the one on my tail back into the hissing horde. My body was a mess now, cuts and slashes on my body, one of my wings was torn up a bit and I was bleeding heavily. I could barely stand up to these creatures… who knew that necrotic enemies would be so difficult.

"I am n-not….dying to you lot… not here… not now… not...ever!" I reeled my head back and growled, then opened my maw wide. I let out a spray of fizzing acid. It didn't burn me in the slightest, but unfortunately for those undead horrors, they didn't have the same perks as me. Their bodies started to crumble and melt under the intense spray of my acid. I stepped closer and closer as I could see that they were quickly melting and fizzing away. Once their hissing had ceased I closed my maw shut and licked away the last bit of my acid spray that rested on my lips. I sighed and sat down on the soft sat, holding my side.

"Fucking hell… where are these undead coming from…" I took a good look around before shaking my head. My eyes met the glint of something shiny amidst the hole in the sand where the necrotic dragons had been. I got up slowly to investigate. Upon the closer inspection of the hole, I noticed something that looked like a shard, that's when I realized it was a Crystal Shard. I quickly scrambled to grab it and held it in my paws. I could feel the intense power radiating off of its being, and it gave me shivers. As I held it in my paws I needed to figure out a place to put it. I looked about before sighing, and gently Lacking in a place to actually put the thing I had to stash it somewhere safe and well… it was most likely going to hurt. I used my tail to start slicing one of my own cuts open more carefully. I had to tough it out though and I did, I gently slid the glowing shard into my cut, wincing out gently. "Fucking hell… C...Come on…!" I felt the shard go its furthest into my bleeding wound and I quickly pulled my claw out, gasping and shuddering before shaking my head, it was done. I had the first shard out of seven. I just had to hope the others had much better luck then I did. I winced out in pain suddenly, feeling my injuries finally starting to take their toll on my body, and I felt very weak. The amount of blood I lost wasn't enough to kill me of course but it left me light headed and uneven on my four paws. I looked to the sky and took in a deep breath. My vision started to blur over and my body grew weaker and weaker, what happened next I was unsure of but I heard a faint whisper in my ear, telling me to simply... _sleep_ … I fell to soft, sandy ground under me and passed out due to lack of blood in my system.

I soon woke up in a strange, dark room. I lifted my body up off of what seemed like some sort of bed and took a small look around. I gasped and winced, holding my gashed side, feeling it, though it seemed like it was bandaged and cared to. "W...where...where am I…?" I tried getting out of the strange bed before I was suddenly stopped by someone calling my name. It sounded awfully familiar. "Wha…? Who's there?" Out of the corner of my eye, I say a faint shadow moving out into the open, and I was more than relieved to see that Spyro was coming into vision, even with my slightly blurry sight. "Oh… Oh, Spyro…" I fell back onto my back and sighed out deeply, closing my eyes once more. "There...there were so many…"

"So many...of what?"

"Necro dragons… They...they surrounded me… and attacked me… I was able to fight off the horde but… Came out with injuries…" I looked over at him, laying flat on my back as I rubbed my bandaged side softly.

"Necro dragons..? That's… Very odd Cynder... But nonetheless, we are glad to see you alive. We found you in a pool of your own blood, you were barely breathing as well." Spyro sat next to me on the bed I rested and healed in all this time. "Me, Adäh, and Bläyz didn't run into any trouble like that. But...we did manage to find out the true locations of the Crystal Shards with all the same results so clearly, we have valid sources." He placed a paw on my side gently and I winced out. He pulled his paw away gently before resting it back on my side. We sat in silence for a good few minutes, he then turned to face me and he leaned his head down close to me, pressing his forehead against mine.

"I always knew you were such a sap..." I said with a slight tease in my weakened voice.

"I was extremely worried you know… I thought I was going to lose you… If I would have known...then I wouldn't have sent you in like that alone…" Spyro placed one of his forepaws onto mine and squeezed it softly, sighing gently to himself.

"No no, it's okay… I was able to hold my own quite well… the only thing I don't think I'll ever be getting back is my wing…" I flex it softly to show him the damage, most of the membrane that allowed me to fly with it was gone, and the actual finger parts of my wing were mostly bitten and clawed up finely. "I don't think I'll be growing it back…" I look away, whining gently to myself before shaking my head.

"Gosh, Cynder… I'm sorry I sent you there on your own…"

"No no, it's okay Spyro… Really it is… If anything it taught me how to fight again when I was for sure I had lost the ability to do so. I'm more than ready now!" I nod to Spyro and pat him on his paw gently that grasped my other one. I sighed out gently and relaxed back on the bed, looking around. I could see no one else in the room but myself and Spyro. "Say Spyro… Where are we exactly..?"

"The medical ward in the Council Building." He replied in a hushed voice.

"Ah… No wonder it's so barren…" I smirk a bit before relaxing, letting my energy restore itself. As I lay there, Spyro stayed by my side the whole time, though he stared off into the distance now, squeezing my paw once again. I could see the blank expression on his face, filled with worry and regret now. I took his in both of mine and stroked it calmly, murmuring out to me. "Don't worry about me, purple boy… I can take care of myself just fine... I promise." I smiled at him, and he turned his head back to look at me, smiling back gently. "Oh! I almost forgot." I looked around a bit, and swayed my tail, then moved over onto my stomach and slowly stood up. I slowly stepped off the bed and hobbled away for a couple moments. "Stay right there mister.." I said and he stared at me with a confused expression before nodding lightly.

"Uh yeah...okay?"

I had remembered where exactly I put the Crystal Shard. I dug my claw into my still open wound, thankfully not bleeding anymore but still horribly in pain. I hid that all behind the medical curtain. With a few pokes and a tug from my claw I felt the shard start moving out from my body, and before I knew it, it was out. It clattered to the floor, coated with my blood. I picked it up between two of my claws and licked it clean. Gods did it taste awful...but I didn't want to worry Spyro about where I hid it. I bandaged myself up once again after that fact and I hobbled back over to him. "Here you go, Spyro." I calmly said, trying my best to keep the composure I needed to look like an injured dragon. I handed him the sparkling shard, smiling slightly.

"Where did you find this?!" He seemed to be in shock.

"I found it while I was out in Duskdawn Coast. After I fought all those necro dragons one of them dropped this like some sort of boss loot or something."

"But where did you put it? We looked all over your body and we couldn't find anything remotely close to it!" Spyro was both equally excited and shocked for the fact that we -well more or so I- had gotten a Crystal Shard. He soon handed it back to me after getting a good look at it, to which I took it back. "We have to give this to the guardians right away!" Just before he was about to start leaping for the door I quickly yanked on his tail and drew him back to the bed, firmly sitting him down on it.

"No! No… we can't… we shouldn't…" I looked at him with worry in my eyes. "I don't think these crystal shards are worth it to give them to the guardians… they seem to hold some sort of ancient necromancer magic within them… I'm… certain we should hide them away…" I know it would go against myself entirely to say such but it was for the good of everyone it seemed. Neztal had to be right about this or I may be in deep shit now. I sighed and swayed my tail around with a bit of decency to it. "If… If they reform the Ætherial Crystal… Something bad is going to happen… And I don't think we can stop it… So please...don't tell the guardians about it…"

Spyro gave me a concerned look before shaking his head. "Whatever it may be you can't worry about it… It's not going to hurt you. You've got plenty who will take care of whatever is going to happen… Now please Cynder… Just give me the Crystal Shard and we can be done with all of this…" Spyro held out his paw as he demanded the Crystal Shard back. I couldn't bring it in me to give him the shard again, and at this moment I knew he couldn't believe me, and there was clearly nothing else I could do about it. I stared at him for a good few minutes before I shook my head and started to back away.

"No… No, I can't…"

"Cynder what's the matter with you? Just give me the shard!" He started to get that dominant part of him out and he stepped closer.

"Please… Forgive me Spyro…" I said as I suddenly curled my tail around and slashed one of his forelegs, I can't believe I had done it, but I did, and he quickly fell to his belly. While he was trying to recover I quickly ran out the door and took flight as best I could with my torn up wing. I was nearing the door to the exit of the Council Building as I started to hear my name being yelled at me from behind, and I turned to see Adäh, Bläyz, and Terrador chasing after me. I pull my wings in and flew through the air with near sonic speeds as I bolted past the open doors.

"Cynder stop at once! And hand over the shard!" I heard someone shout at me as I kept on running, my paws finally touching the ground. While still injured quite a bit it didn't phase me all that much as I wanted to escape now more than anything. I quickly found a place to hide amongst the large buildings in Warfang, panting and huffing deeply. I had to my distance now before I could fully escape Warfang.

"Ugh… there's no one I can trust now…" I looked around the alleyway I was stuck in and looked overhead, and there was a ton of dragons out in the skies now search for me most likely, as Warfang is never really this crowded at any time of the day. I didn't have much of a choice in trying to find a place to shove the Shard so I put it back in the cut I had on the side of my body. After that short pain endurance, I pulled myself together once again and spread open my wings. I had to wait for a second before I could take off high into the sky, as there were dragons and moles all over. When it seemed the skies and ground level were clearly I shot up into the sky like a dart and made haste towards the cloud level. I prayed that no one would see me and once I hit the cloud layer, I waited. No one came for me, and I let out a relieved sigh. "Thank the gods I made it out… Now to just stay above the cloud layer until I'm out of Warfang's view…" I spoke gently to myself as I started to fly towards my new destination… which I wasn't sure of, but it was somewhere to the southwest.


	4. IV - New Friends

_**IV - New Friends**_

I must have flown for hours now. I was sure of being out of range of Warfang so I was able to dunk back under the cloud layer and scout the area. I hadn't really been too sure of where I was now cause I seemed to be over some sort of ocean. I couldn't fly more much longer though as my wings were starting to get tired and my stomach was feeling empty. I had to get something to eat. I scouted the dark blue water for some sort of island or something I could land on to give myself a break. And just as I was able to give up right then and there and try to go fishing, I spotted land! Finally I was able to land once again. I pulled back on my wings and started my decent, looking at the sand I was close to landing on. It didn't take me very long until I reached shore, and I collapsed onto my stomach. "Ugh… Food… Where is...food…?" I look around, trying to spot something and my gaze caught a crab walking across the sand away from the ocean. I haven't had crab before, so I should be a new, interesting taste. I got up weakly and slowly hobbled over to the crab. I reached down to pick it up, and as my paw touched it I felt a sudden sharp pain rush through it. I looked down to see the crab's claw tightly gripping my paw, which actually hurt a fuck ton! I tried to shake it off, smack it against the ground, and everything, but to no avail it wouldn't come off. I wasn't sure to do now. The crab finally let go after it was done with its dirty assault on my paw, and seeming to feel accomplished it scuttled back into the deep blue depths of the ocean.

"That's no way to catch a crab you know." A voice said behind be. At first I thought it was Neztal but he had more of a ghostly whisper to his voice, so it couldn't have been him. I turned to look at a rather new face. There was some sort of bipedal wolf sitting on a mossy rock. I wasn't aware of his presence until he spoke up, he might have been there after I landed for all I know. This bipedal wolf stood up and strided over towards me. He reminded me a lot of Hunter, though he was more or so dressed for something else. He was wearing a scarf around his neck that bundled up a bit and he had some sort of robe on, well it was more like 0ne of those fancy capes then a robe. Rather tall too, probably taller than Hunter if I had to guess. He squats down in front of me and takes a look over my beaten up body and shakes his head, standing back up. "C'mon with me, you seem like you could use some help." He told me.

"I suppose I do, but what I need most right now is some food…" I replied to him, my stomach growling for nutrients.

"Oh i've got plenty of that back my my place. So come with me and i'll patch you up." He waved his hand for me to follow and I nodded, quickly taking the spot on his left side.

"So… Who are you, and where am I?" Of course this was two of many questions I had to ask him. After all I was in a foreign land now most likely, either invading or trespassing. Either way this wolf was the first thing on this land kind to me. Unlike that damned crab.

"Me? I'm the Wolf Samurai Satoshi. And you my dragon companion are in Howaito, the sacred lands of the White Wolf. " He spoke calmly and turned to me and looked down to me with a rather calm look in his eyes. I wasn't sure about it, but something told me that I could trust this wolf, and so, I did. "You don't seem to be from around here...you look very different from our dragons. Where did you come from exactly?"

"I came from the Great Dragon City Warfang, in the Dragonlands."

"Ah… A Westerner… Interesting. Well around here dragons look more like snakes then what you look like. We call them Imperial Dragons for their regal looks." He spoke to me as we walked side by side, leading me to his home. I looked around us as he took me. The trees were so pretty here. They shined with a lovely vibrant pink and red. The petals fell gently to the ground in the gentle breeze as they came loose, and I could pick up faint, sweet smells in the air.

"Say Satoshi…" I spoke up, looking up at him.

"Yes?" He looked down to me, our eyes meeting in a gaze.

"What are these pretty trees called?"

"These?" He chuckled lightly. "I suppose since you are a foreigner you haven't seen these trees before. These are called Cherry Blossoms. They are very common here in Howaito." He gave a small smile before I saw his ears perk, and he looked up. "Ah! Here we are. Home sweet home."

I took a good look at his home. It was rather small, much smaller in fact. These were the kinds of houses moles lived in. I wasn't sure about the exact sizes either. He opened the door to his oddly shaped home, though of course these were normal shapes compared to our homes, and he led me inside. His home was actually bigger then I thought it'd be on the inside. Everything was spaced out evenly and nicely. Everything was so neat now. "Wow… Everything looks so pretty in here!" I smiled and trotted in, and as soon as I did I found myself face to face with a floating...noodle?

"Hi hi! And welcome to the home Master Satoshi Sangure! I am his Imperial Dragon Narzel! Who are you? Are you a dragon? You don't look like a dragon from around here."

I was quite speechless at the sight of this floating dragon. He looked to be a milky white in the scales, dark purple eyes that seemed similar to my own scale color. He did have a pretty unique mane that was different yet similar to that of a horse. I wasn't sure of it, but I felt like I kinda loved this dragon already! Wait...no now isn't the time to be gawking over dragons again.

"Well… uh… It's nice to meet you Narzel. I'm Cynder of the Dragonlands. I came from the west you see." I turned to Satoshi. "And the reason I fled from the Dragonlands is because I didn't want them find a Crystal Shard I had." I looked down a small bit, sighing gently. "I...I just need somewhere to stay in order to avoid my capture…"

"Well Cynder… We'll be happy to keep you for as long as you need to stay."

"Oh thank you… I just don't think I can trust anyone else in the Dragonlands anymore… My conscious is telling me bad things will happen if I don't destroy the shards." I sigh and take a seat on one of the pillows on the floor set out by Narzel. They surrounded a low table that was finely decorated with some oriental style pastries and drinks. I watched as Narzel poured a cup of oriental style tea for his master and me, and offered me the cup. I took it softly into my paws and sighed gently, tilting it into my maw and sipping it softly.

"Well, how's it taste Cynder?" Narzel turned to me, actually curious on my opinion.

"Really good actually! I never really drank tea before so I'm unfamiliar with the taste. But it's still really good nonetheless!" I smile to him as I take another sip, savoring the taste on my tongue. It had a familiar leafy taste to it, but there was a certain bittersweet taste to it that made me keep coming back for more every time.

"Thanks! I made it myself actually. Master Satoshi thinks it's really good too, so are my pastries and other sweets!" Narzel seemed really pleased with himself.

"Now… If I may inquire, what were you going about your conscious?" Satoshi looked at me, taking a bite of what looked like a cinnamon roll.

"Oh right! That… Yeah. Well… In my head I have this Spectral Dragon named Neztal who says he is a Guardian Spirit sent to me to protect me. I'm not sure from what, but he's there with me." I explained to him everything that has happened between me and Neztal, sighing softly as soon as I finished with that. "And well… that's the basis of it really… Do you believe me?"

Satoshi stroked his chin softly with his thumb and index finger, while Narzel looked over me, quite speechless really. "That's quite impressive Cynder… I've heard of these Spectral Dragons before but never have I ever experienced someone in my lifetime who had one actually."

I nod my head and take a small sip of the hot tea in that cup that was still in my paws. "Yeah tell me about it… at first I thought it was the return of Malefor's spirit trying to invade my mind but… it was Neztal instead." I take one last sip before putting the empty cup down. "Do you two by any chance happen to know about the Crystal Shards?" I ask with a slight tilt to my head.

"I certainly don't. What about you Narzel?" Satoshi turned to his imperial servant.

"Why yes! I do! I've heard so many stories about them! I even know of one of the locations! They aren't just scattered around the Dragonlands. They are also scattered around Howaito and Bundinn við ís. Though no one is fully sure on where to start looking. Lucky for you though I can lead you to the first one!" Narzel smiles to me and his master, soon floating by my side. He wiggled his paw toes a bit and out came a map, out literally out of thin air! "Here. Take this map with you, it will be of use to you! It shows you the first location of the Crystal Shard here in Howaito. Who knows, maybe you'll find more here too!" He seemed so excited all the time...and it was kind of adorable.

"Well… Thank you, both of you! I should really get going now." I said as I stood up, looking over the both of them and bowing my head.

"Wait a moment Cynder. It is not best you travel alone in Howaito. It is very dangerous for a dragon like you to be wandering our lands without a native to escort you. Others may do some dastardly stuff to you if left unchecked. So let me and Narzel accompany you on your trip." Satoshi stood up and gripped the end of his blade, nodding his head to me while Narzel smiled and well, simply floated there.

"I suppose the help would be nice, after all this is my first time here."

"Great! Then it is settled. We shall leave whenever you are ready to go."

"Of course!" I nod my head and take a few more bites to eat of the offered pastries. I look around for a few second, then perk my head a bit. "Hey Satoshi do happen to have a carrying bag of some sort? I don't exactly have the ability to carry many things on my body as it is." I turned to him and flicked my tail.

"I sure do. Hold on a moment, if you will." He replied as he hobbled into the back room that I was completely unaware of at the time. It took him a minute or so to get that bag I asked for out, then which he came back to me and held it up. "Here you go Cynder."

I take the bag into my paws and wrap it around my back, then nod. "Thanks Satoshi. Now Narzel, could y0u take this Shard out from my side and put it in the bag?"

"Me? Why should I do it?"

"Because Satoshi's hands are too big to fit in the gap that's on my side, and your paws seem to fit the bill on size here."

"Well… Okay." He hesitated a small bit before nodding and floating over to my wounded side. "Oh jeez… You got pretty beat up didn't you?"

"Yeah, just a nasty fight with some necrodragon though, I'm okay to say the least." I wait for him to get ready, and when he was ready he started to slide his paw along my gash that was just finally starting to heal, and with his claws he peeled it open. Blood began to leak down my side and I could feel it dripping down from my side down my stomach and onto the ground. He seemed to be doing okay though as he hadn't reacted much or tried to stop. I felt his paw move into the gash spread it open yet again as he felt around for the shard. The longer he stayed in the more blood I could dripping down my side. It wasn't long though until he finally got a grasp of it and started to pull it out. His paw was covering quite well in my blood and he flicked some of it off onto the ground. As he held it in his bloodied paw I could see his eyes stare in wonder at it, before putting it into the backpack I was carrying.

"Okay Cynder I got it out! It was super pretty… First time i've ever seen one so up close!" He smiled as he floated off to go wash his paw clean.

"Sorry about the mess Satoshi."

"Do not worry about it Cynder. Narzel shall take care of it when he returns." He smiles to me, and just as he does Narzel comes back with a bucket and scrubber of some sort. He scrubs the wood tiled floor quite well until the blood was virtually all gone. Then he did the same to my scales, acting as if they were some sort of decorative tiling. Once my scales were shiny and cleaned off of my own blood I watched Narzel disappear back into the backroom from where Satoshi got my backpack. When he returned he seemed more then ready to go now.

"Okay before we get going again let me tend to your wound Cynder. I know a spell that heals all wounds quickly!" He smiled to me and ran his paw down my side. It started to glow as he did and I stood ever so still, not wanting to break his concentration. "Now hold still while I fix you up…" He spoke out soothingly and I nodded gently. I closed my eyes for moment, hoping for the best as I felt my body start to light up with a radiant feeling, and the rest of my body started to glow even, just like Narzel's paw. I could feel my strength returning to me and I could my cuts and bruises disappearing. It wasn't long before I was fully recovered once more, my wing membrane had returned to normal as well. He wasn't kidding when he said it healed all wounds quickly. I felt his paw leave my side and I looked over to him, smiling gratefully as I turned to hug him. He hesitated for a small moment before he hugged me back, and I could tell he wasn't use to this sort of thing.

I pulled away after I had had enough of that and sighed softly. "Alright, I'm ready to go now, feeling then ever thanks to Narzel here!" I smiled to the both of them and nodded my head.

"Wonderful, now let us make haste!" Satoshi pulls the map out of the backpack and opens it up, looking over it. "It says we must travel through Nytogo Forest first. We mustn't lose time, come!" He rolled the map back up and made his way out the door, both me and Narzel following closely behind. Here I go, back on around crazy adventure, but this time through the land of Howaito!


	5. V - Damned Souls

_**V - Damned Spirits**_

I was completely unfamiliar with this place. It was, of course, all so new to me because well… It was my first time here. I was really enjoying my time here for however long it may be. I wanted to make it last really, though that would still be extremely difficult as we were on a mission of course. I didn't really want to stop them or myself at this point because well… I just had to make sure I could make this all right of course! As we walked the words Neztal told me all that long time ago echoed in the back of my mind. _-Destroy the shards before the guardians can reform the Ætherial Crystal…-_ I wasn't too sure of it this time but now I think I had gotten lost. Either that or I probably passed out again.

"Narzel?!" I yelled out into the woods around me. "Satoshi?!" I know I could master the element of fear and how to harness its power but...this really did scare me. Boy, do I wish I paid attention rather than stare at the floor the whole walk. The defining sign that I wasn't passed out on the floor is that I could hear Narzel's voice in the distance, calling out to me and his master. I started to run towards the direction that Narzel was shouting from. As I approached and knew I was near his spot he was already gone. I don't know if he went off to find Satoshi or me, but whatever was going on I didn't like it. I'm still completely unsure of what was going on and I could barely keep my eyes in the right direction as I kept on hearing the bushes around me start to move and rustle uneasily. What did this mean? I took one step back and as I did some sort of Spectral Dragon hopped out of the bushes toward me. The Spectral Dragon a distinct look on its face that was clearly irritated. Maybe it just didn't like foreign dragons invading their homelands. As I looked around more started to pop up around me in the small clearing I was in. I saw a few distinct faces out of the bunch even. I saw a few I recognized from Warfang. I saw Ember and Flame… I remember these two greatly. Ember was the one who tried to steal Spyro from me way back when before she got banished to Dante's Freezer. I heard the stories that she actually froze to death one winter night. The reason why she was banished? I don't know, I was out having my own troubles. Flame...well… He and Spyro didn't agree on something and Spyro threw him into a Volcano. He says it was for who would get to be with me. I highly doubt it. But still… why are they here in Howaito? One more came out from the bushes, and I could tell who this one was right off the bat. I could tell those familiar features anywhere. It was Neztal.

 _-Do not worry Cynder... Because we are in the Nytogo forest I can aid you while outside of your mind...- This forest has special abilities nowhere else has…-_

"Okay but… Why are you here… and what is the meaning of all this?"

 _-Cynder… We are here to clear your mind of your fears… you can not claim the next shard without it… You will see things that will frighten even a black dragon like you…-_ He waved one of his ghostly paws and the Spectral Dragons around him stepped back into the bushes. _-Cynder… They are here because they are stuck in Purgatory… And they will do whatever it takes to get to where they need to go… This will help you… Now just relax… and concentrate...you have nothing to fear here Cynder… Nothing…-_ I watched as Neztal moved back into the bushes as well, leaving me to myself once more.

"Neztal? NEZTAL?!" I cried out but I couldn't hear or feel his presence around me anymore. And now I was truly alone in a forest full of spirits that could possibly kill me. What was I supposed to do?! I took a couple steps back, looking around like a terrified sheep. How was I supposed to defend myself against an enemy that I could not hit no matter how hard I tried. Even my poison wouldn't work on them. I shook my head and cleared it of those bad thoughts, and held it up high, quickly regaining my composure after that. "Okay, Cynder… You can do this… Just… Get to the Center of the forest… That's all you have to do…" I could tell I was already starting to go mad with fear. The darkening sky and Cherry Blossom trees didn't help either. I sighed and kept walking in the single direction I was going. There were silent whispers all around me, possibly judging me, stalking me. I didn't like it at all. "Oh, where's Spyro when you need him…?" Like a terrified hatchling I had to go back to relying on my stronger friends to do things for me, but no one was there to help me this time.

"Cynder!"

"Wh-" I quickly turn my head to the left of me down this strange pathway I was walking down now and I saw Ember jump out and pin me to the ground. How could she though, she was a Spectral dragon.

"You are going to pay for stealing what was mine…"

"But I haven't- What are you-" Like a thousand needles piercing into my more weaker underbelly I could feel those sharp claws of the spectral Ember pierce into my body. "AH! GOD DAMN IT!" I screamed out and I tried pushing her off, but my paws went right through her opaque body. She kept her claws dug into my soft underbelly, not letting up. I could feel the blood starting to leak from the stab wounds she gave me.

"You'll have to go through the same pain I did when you took away my Spyro!" She yelled at me and stabbed her claws through my chest now, tearing into the soft scales and flesh there. "Come on Cynder?! Where's that fight in you?! Or are you too scared to fight back?! Is that it?!" She kept on shouting at me while wailing on my body. I bit down on my lower jaw a bit and held onto as much as I could while she slashed and cut into my scales. Yes… I was afraid of fighting now… A spectral dragon vs. a live dragon was no easy task mind you, and there was no way for me to hit here. I tried to clear my mind while I felt her claws dig and dig into my flesh. She was so angry with me and what I apparently did. My claws began to glow red and I slowly raised my paw, and I took a swing at her. It hit! She let up her assault to find out that I had actually hit her. While she was distracted with that I quickly stabbed my glowing red tail through her own stomach. Granted no blood, thankfully, but I could tell I hit something important in an already dead dragon as she suddenly toppled over.

"O….oh… Oh gods… I...I did it…!" The Spectral Ember looked up to me and growled, slowly starting to get back up before she toppled and keeled over onto her side, phasing from this plane it seemed. Gods I was a mess once again, my stomach cut up badly, almost enough to spill out my guts but...I was okay thankfully. I had to find Narzel quick otherwise the next encounter could be my last. I started on the path again, blood leaking from my sustained wounds and leaving a trail behind me, hopefully, Narzel and Satoshi could find me that way. Just as I had come to yet another clearing I saw what looked like Flame standing there, pink cherry blossom petals falling around him. I had to admit. Flame looked rather dashing older, all grown up. He had more distinct features to him that Spyro clearly lacked. "F...Flame…?"

"Hmm…?" He turned his head to look at me, and I lowered my head, blood still dripping from my stomach. "Oh. It's you Cynder." He completely turned around his features on full show to me now. Even if he was dead...I still couldn't stop myself from looking over his form.

"You uh… You look… riveting Flame…"

"I'd be looking better if I wasn't dead thanks to the no good 'boyfriend' of yours."

"He's… He's not my boyfriend!"

"Are you sure about that?" He started to trot closer, and I could feel the anger coming off of his body. It was unreal to think that someone could still hold a grudge like that for 9 whole years. "Because the last thing I remember hearing coming out of Spyro's messed up mouth was, 'I don't want see you anywhere near MY Cynder ever again.' Then he threw me into the volcano… Need I remind you?" He ran one of his paws along my cheek, and I couldn't help but pull my head away.

"Stop that Flame... I don't love you and you know that…" I looked away, completely forgetting all that pain in my abdomen as my full attention was focused on Flame.

"Then tell me Cynder… Why can't you stop staring at me huh? Do you like what you see or something?" He smirked and ran his paw under my chin, and I attempted to pull away, but his paw followed. "Oh, Cynder… What should I do with you…" He looked down at me, shaking his head as he stepped away from me. "Think about… You could've been with someone who has better looks... a better voice...a better personality...a better...everything in fact. But no. You chose that damn purple dragon over me. And...there is nothing I can do to save you from that torture… Face it Cynder... You are scared… And Spyro isn't around… just accept your demise and be with a real dragon… One that can actually protect you..." He quickly turned around swung his large claws toward my head, and I quickly grabbed his paw with mine, my claws glowing that same red.

"I...I know what you're trying to do… and it won't work…!" He perked a brow and smirked a bit. I knew what he was up to. He tried this last time. He was trying to scare me into submission to be with him. He was always the one trying to impress me with his menacing stare and intimidation tactics. To be completely honest he almost had me once too. But luckily Spyro was there to keep that from happening. I held his paw tightly in mine as he started to drive his claws through to, attempting to get that one good swing in on my head and end me right there, but I wouldn't let him. No… Not here. With what strength I had in me I quickly threw him onto the side and I jumped above him, using my tail and claws to stab him through the chest and land a rather critical blow.

"Gaahhhh! Nnnnh… C-Cynder… Why…" And just like Ember, he phased out of this plane, and quickly I was alone again. I looked at my paw, three stab wounds in it from Flame's claws. I had already lost so much blood that I was starting to lose consciousness.

"Ugh… N-no… Is… Is this...it? It… can't be…" As I lay there my vision started to blur over and my body slowly went limp.

"Cynder! Oh, good lords Cynder!" I heard Satoshi's voice approach and the patter of his feet rush over to me.

"Cynder… Stay with us! I'm here! Cynder…? Cynd…." As Narzel began to approach quickly after Satoshi I felt my mind slip and my eyes closed fully. Was… was I going to die…? Was Narzel too late? I couldn't tell but what could tell was that everything went black, and I lost consciousness.


	6. VI - Remembering to Forget

**Just a bit of warning for this chapter: It does contain a bit lemon/lime in there, so if you don't want to see that exposition and what not, go ahead and skip down to** _ **Cynder's Mind, Present**_ **after reading the first part before the flashback. Remember feedback is always appreciated!**

 _ **VI - Remembering to Forget**_

Darkness surrounded me and well… I wasn't sure where I was. Maybe I was in the void again where I met that undead Spyro. Who knows. I found myself soon able to move once more luckily, and when I could move, I started to paddle my way through the emptiness. This all felt so odd and strange yet so familiar to me. Where was I? Am I actually dead? No no, it couldn't be that… It's too soon for that. Through my long dragon paddle through the nothingness I find myself hearing a voice. A familiar voice. It was Flame. I tried calling out but I clearly couldn't talk or make any sound for that matter. But why was he here...in the nothingness of my mind… was it something secret I've been hiding from myself? It must be that! I kept on my journey, legs getting tired, but I was getting closer and closer to my goal, but I was abruptly stopped by a sudden wall. An invisible wall, just sitting there within my mind. I pushed on it with my forepaws and I could feel it start to bend. I wasn't sure what I was doing or how it was working but I kept trying. Pushing and shoving more and more until I felt the invisible wall suddenly vanish from the touch of my paws and I fell through, landing in a brightly lit room. It looked like my room, though it was a bit cleaner and everything seemed neatly packed and placed. I took a scan of the room, taking note of where everything was placed and how I had placed it, that's when I saw him again.

"Flame!" I was finally able to shout out, which caught me off guard a bit.

"Ah… There you are my fine Black dragon… So nice to see you once again." He spoke the same as always, trying to impress me and seduce me for whatever reason he wants. He even strangely had a small hint of an accent that I'm not too familiar with. He seemed to always have some sort of accent when talking right to me and only me. "I'm sorry our last encounter had such an unfortunate turn around. You know I couldn't ever hurt you... "

"Yes, Flame I am very aware of that… But why are you in my head…?"

"You're telling me that you don't understand why? Well… I thought it would be obvious… I am here because this is where you kept your most cherished things." His words made me blush, and I turned my head away as he finished.

"I see… So that would explain why it's my room… But… I never liked you that much! That's what I don't get…"

"Cynder…" The flame red dragon strode up to me and sat down, placing a paw under my chin. I looked away again. "No one else here but you and me… And clearly, Spyro not being here is another sign of who you like more… It's okay to admit it here… No one else will hear…"

"...Flame... " I looked away again and flicked my tail, sighing gently before placing my forehead against his chest, sitting down. "I guess there is no lying to you when no one else has to hear it…" To be honest, he was very much correct about who I deemed more...suitable for me. It was him by far. He just...had everything. The looks, the strength, the voice...the personality...the...ugh I just couldn't stop myself from thinking so much about it. It started to hurt now at how much I started to remember. "I'm sorry things turned out this way Flame…" I tried to hold back the tears. Yeah, I know… Spyro and I have been best mates ever since that day he turned me away from Malefor's grasp. He had to be the one for me right? No… It was in fact Flame that had my heart in honesty. Ever since that day he moved to Warfang I had my eyes on him. We became quick friends. We both had similar likes and tastes in things. He liked my looks, always complimenting me, and I liked his looks. Though I never really said anything to him for fear that he would go to Spyro and say something. I did decide to say it one day though.

 _Warfang, five years ago_

"Oh… Good morning Flame. How are you this fine day?"

"Oh, Cynder… No need to be so formal with me darling…" Flame moved his paw under my chin. Rumbling gently I press my head down into his loving paw.

"I never get this much attention from Spyro… He always says it distracts him… Though I know he does care for me." I looked away a bit, sitting down next to him. Flame and I were in a large grassy field, a few miles from Warfang. Spyro had gone out to some crazy adventure the Guardians sent him on. I was to remain at Warfang, as I haven't really been in touch with my elemental powers and I knew myself would be much help so I opted out anyway.

"Well… He'll be away for a good while so...we can have time to ourselves you know…" He turned his head to me and gave me a small smirk, to which I gently looked to the ground, and he nuzzled my cheek soothingly. "Don't fret Cynder… I'm sure we can have some fun in the meantime…" He placed a paw on my side and stroked it softly. He was getting more and more intimate with me as the days went on, and I didn't push him away. I know Spyro would be upset, but he was away, and no one would know but me...and Flame.

"Hey…" I placed a paw on his chest, pushing him back a bit. "Promise you won't say anything to anyone? I...I don't know how Spyro would react if he found out…"

"Don't worry Cynder… I promise I won't tell anyone…" He smiled softly and ran his paw along my cheek, sighing softly before standing up. He looked over my form before I found him pushing me over onto my side. I gasped and oofed as I fell onto my back, laying there, confused as he stood over my body. "Cynder… I don't care what anyone says… You are the most perfect Black Dragon I've known… I'm going to keep you as mine...forever mine…" He leaned his head down to mine, pressing his nose against mine. I haven't felt like this in a long while… The last time I've felt this excited about laying down was when I first met Spyro as my true self...not the one I was when under Malefor's control.

"Oh Flame… You… Look so stunning… and I love that…" I said, and for once, he smiled for something I said inspect of another compliment he gave me. He always complimented my looks, my eyes...even the sharp bits of my body. He even gave me some rather...lewd remarks about how they could be used.

"Heh… And you look so pleasing to the eye… Your scales shiny lovely against both sun and moon." I watched his snout move with the soft words he spoke, my tail twitching and my paws pressing on his chest lightly. "Now… if you don't mind… Let me get a good look at you…"

"What...what do you...O-o-ooohhh…." I gave out a soft release of breath as I felt his tongue against my scales and running down my body. "Mmmh… Bet Spyro never did this with you… bet he was never…" I felt his warm tongue run up my inner thigh and it twitched lightly. "this daring…"

Flame gently nuzzled my inner thigh and I sighed out again. I felt his larger paws grasp my legs and push them open, spreading them wide. I looked down to see what he was up to and my guess was right. He pressed his nose to my slit and sniffed, taking in the scent before licking it softly. I tensed at the first touch, but then calmed down. His tongue soothed the nervousness in my body and he kept me calm with his sentimental licking, or lack thereof a better word. I looked up at the sky and relaxed, letting his tongue delve in and explore a bit. Yes, this was wrong for enjoying it. I mean… Spyro was the one destined to be my mate… by Flame was just more appealing in every way. I let him have his fun down there before finding his tongue suddenly absent from my nethers and I looked up. I saw him standing over me again and when I looked down I saw his rod, dangling there between both our legs, coming right from his own slit. "Jeez Flame… You sure are...packing...aren't you…?" He simply smirked and leaned down.

"Glad you think so… I say we take this up a notch...no?" He wriggled his brows like some sort of perv, but he was a better kind of perv. One that at least cared about space and reason. I gave a simple nod of my head in response. I readied myself and began to push down on his own hips. It looked kinda silly but I was still a bit anxious. It left the tip of his pink tool push down against my nethers and I tensed once more before relaxing. He slowly laid his body on top of mine and I wrapped my paws around him, holding him close. "No one has to know now…"

"Just… Please be gentle...yeah?" Sure...my first was with Flame...but I didn't care… He was at least here for me, ready to care for my needs. I felt his hips grind along mine and his length move through my body, letting it stretch out my vaginal passage and continue to move through it. "Oh, lords Flame… You are massive…" I whine out to him, and all he did was a smirk and nuzzle my neck, soothing me at least.

"Shhh...shhh…. It's okay… Just enjoy yourself yeah..?" He smiled a bit and ran his paw against the back of my head. He kept up with the grinding and gentle thrusts, continuing to keep everything calm on my end. But...unfortunately, our fun was ended by a sudden shout of my name.

"CYNDERRRR!"

 _Cynder's Mind, Present_

I pulled myself away from Flame's chest and sighed, standing up. "I should have just waited...otherwise you wouldn't be dead right now... I'm so sorry Flame… I wish things didn't turn out right this…"

"It's okay Cynder… It's my fault things went like this… Now… I'm gonna have to ask you to wake up… You still have a job to do…" I watched as Flame came closer and he lifted my chin up with his paw, sticking out his tongue. I did the same with my tongue. After a moment we touched and made it last for a small time before pulling away. He sighed and waved me off as I suddenly found myself in the empty void again in the blink of an eye.

"Flame? FLAME?! Oh, lords help me…" I began to paddle through the emptiness again. I had to remember that Flame told me to wake up, and I tried, but I couldn't. I continued to try and try but still couldn't. How was I supposed to wake up when no one was around to shock me or scare me. I sighed and continued to paddle once again, whining lightly before my head perked, and I heard a voice call out… _-Wake up Cynder… It's time to wake up… Wake….up….-_

"Wake up!"

"Ah, fuck!" On a sudden impulse, I stood up and slashed the closest thing to me, luckily it was a tree that took the wrath of my sharpened claws. "Where am I?!" I turned and looked to see Narzel and Satoshi sitting on the ground where I had been laying. I could tell I was laying there from the pool of blood, but I felt healed. Thank the lords for Narzel and his healing powers.

"Oh, Cynder you are okay… Thank goodness. We were so worried that Narzel may have been too late…" Satoshi sighed, relieved that I was okay.

"Cynder! You're alive!" Narzel came floating up to me and coiled around me like a snake, which was quite new to me. This must be his way of hugging. "I was super duper worried about you!"

"Oh! Heh… I'm glad to see the both of you still alive…"

"Indeed to the both of you as well. Now with that aside, let us figure out where this Crystal Shard is… after all, we have reached Nytogo Forest… Let us hope for a safe travel through this time." Satoshi pulled the map out from my backpack and nodded a small bit, looking at it. Narzel patted my head before uncoiling from my body. Well...action time again. At least I'll have my dragon medic and Samurai wolf with me this time!

A/N This chapter was slightly a bit more for an experiment, hence why it was so short and to keep it M rated. If any of y'all would like to see more of this type of stuff in it then I'll put it in with the skips in between so others can enjoy the story without the smut. Remember, feedback is always appreciated!


	7. VII - One True Fear

A/N: Sorry about the last chapter if it upset any of you. Don't worry. If any of you want to see more terrible things happen to Cynder in the future then keep reading. She'll get what's coming to her. But without further ado, here's Chapter 7!

* * *

 ** _VII - One True Fear_**

We must have been walking for more than an hour, it was dark outside and the more nightly critters were romping throughout Nytogo Forest. We weren't quite sure what turns to take or what paths to travel, but at least we had Narzel. He was just so magically gifted, being able to heal all physical wounds, make a light in his paws, even float without wings! It was truly amazing to see it. We strode out towards the end of the path we were on and Satoshi sighed.

"Okay… This must be the place… The map is not very descriptive nor is it about to properly show the location we need to travel towards." Satoshi pulled the map closer to his face, tilted it left and right, just did all sorts of things to try and make sense of it.

"Wait wait wait…. Shhhhhh… Do you hear that?" Narzel pointed out, nudging his head towards the right. I blinked a couple times and leaned my head that way, flicking my tail. Coming faintly from the right side of the dead end path there was this sort of soft murmuring. Of course, I wasn't too sure of who or what it was, but it must have been important! "I think the shrine is over there…"

I rubbed my chin a bit with two of my claws before nodding in agreement. "Then we mustn't lose any time, let's go!" I told the two. Satoshi put the map back into my backpack and nodded, leading the way.

It wasn't long before we came across the shrine. It stood tall amongst the trees, breaking the canopy with its roof, even towering about it as well. I wasn't sure if it could get any taller, it might have been as tall as some of the buildings in Warfang for all I knew. I looked between the both of them and we all took a step forward, yet Narzel and Satoshi were both stopped immediately. Not by a force field or anything, but actually stopped, like as if they were trapped in time almost. I looked around myself, spotting that mostly everything had stopped. The grass on the ground gently swaying in the breeze, the sound of the breeze, the rustling of the bushes and tree leaves. Everything...stopped… I took a survey of the shrine, looking up and down it for any sort of cause to this. I looked more towards the bottom now and what I saw gave me a sudden shudder through my body.

"Spyro…?" I questioned, and the dragon before me turned around. "What...what are you doing here…?"

"Isn't it obvious…? I'm here for the shard." He spoke out so strongly, in a more angered tone than anything.

"I...I never expected to see you here… how did you get here? Or how did you know to come here?" I stepped closer to him, coming near face to face with the purple dragon.

"The guardians made a map pinpointing the next two locations for the shards. We are still unsure of where the next two are… we think they are somewhere in Dante's Freezer." He looked away from me and sat down. I did the same and looked over him.

"I… See you have better control over your Dragon Time." All he did was nod. "...Is there something you need to talk about Spyro…?"

"Yes… in fact…" He looked back over to me. "Cynder… I know who you preferred more. I know all about it… I know what you enjoy… what you don't… I know it all… I… I know too much now…" That same tone he spoke with early slowly faded into a warbled, upset tone. "Cynder… how could you… I know that was five years ago but… it doesn't make up for that fact… you had the hots for another dragon… The least you could have was tell me that you didn't like me anymore!"

"Spyro that was five years ago… how could you still be upset about that…?"

"How could I not be?!" He stood up, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. "How do you think I felt watching my most favorite dragoness in the whole world get it with another?! How would you have felt if it was me on top of another female?!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"It's too late for sorry!" He got up, stomping his forepaw on the ground angrily. "For god's sake, I loved you Cynder! You even told me that you loved me! Fucking hell!"

"Spyro I jus-" He was just so filled with anger at this point there was no reasoning with him.

"SAVE IT! You are nothing but a lying cheat, that's all you are! I tried to give you a chance… I really did… but you wouldn't accept my kindness for you… I tried to help… and you denied it…" He turned and looked over to the shrine again. "It's too late for anything now Cynder… as far as we're concerned… I never met you in my life… from as far as I know… you are just another Black Dragon for me to defeat…"

"Spyro…" I reached my paw out to him, but he snatched the shard piece from the pedestal and looked back to me.

"Goodbye… Cynder…" He took off to the sky soon after. Before he left I could see the tears in his eyes, the burning hate they had in them for me and for what I have done to him. I wanted to make up. But it was too late for that. Maybe there was still a way… but it seemed much more to be first before earning his trust back. And that'll be a challenge... Spyro's dragon time was still in effect. I was sitting there in the silence, waiting for it to be over.

"Lords save me… I'm such an asshole…" I told myself over and over, plopping onto the ground and tearing up, bawling my eyes out at this point. "I'm sorry Spyro… for everything, I've done… I'll make everything better… I promise…" I wiped my eyes and looked up to the sky, soon time had returned to normal and Satoshi and Narzel came running past me to the shrine before seeing that I was on the ground in front of the shrine.

"Cynder…?" Narzel looked at me, concerned greatly.

"The Crystal Shard is gone… lets just… return home…"

Me, Satoshi, and Narzel carried ourselves home, exhausted from our latest endeavors and sighed gently. The two carrying me seemed pretty upset about something, to say the least. I was too upset myself though to ask about anything.

"Cynder… is something bothering you…?" Narzel asked, looking over my shoulder a bit.

"No… It's nothing Narzel…" I sighed and looked away a bit. We soon found ourselves back at Satoshi's place. I opened the sliding door and strode in, looking around a small bit, and finding my seat on one of the pillows on the ground, sighing gently to myself once more. "So… the Crystal Shard from Howaito has been taken… Where were the other two shards again?"

"Oh, the other two? Those are found in Bundinn við ís. We'd go with you but we are bound to this land, we can't leave it for any reason whatsoever." Narzel looked down, then away, whining gently as he floated up to me and nuzzled my cheek. "Both of us will miss you!" Narzel and Satoshi had only known me for about 2 days now and they are already going to miss me? They must've really enjoyed my company then.

"Oh, guys… I'll miss you too... " I sat down on my haunches firmly and spread open my forelegs for a hug, to which they both pulled in to. We hugged for a few minutes longer before releasing it. I sighed gently and swayed my tail gently, looking at the both of them before spreading my wing. "I best be going now before it gets way too late to do anything!" I say as I stood up and looked over the two of them, then sighed gently and made my way to the door. I looked back at them, waved my wing at them in one last parting before pushing the door open, spreading my wings wide and hopping out the door. From what I've heard, Bundinn við ís is in the north. So that's where I was heading. On this whole flight, I had so much to do think about and look over in my mind. Putting myself in some sort of autoflight mode as I sighed and began to nap. Hopefully, I was on the right course.

 _Hours later_

I wake up in a shock, freezing cold. No amount of scales on my body could stop this sheer cold I was feeling. I pulled my head up from the snowy ground I was laying on, and I gently stood up, shaking off my body of the snow that was collecting on it. "H-holy fuck why is...is it so cold…? This is worse than Dante's F...Freezer…" I shake my head quickly and look around, shivering in my place. "G-God damn… How does anything live ou-out here…?!" I whine out as I start on my way back, looking around for some sort of cave or shelter I could use for warmth before I keel over in the snow and die. Panicked now at this point I continue my search, looking everywhere before finally spotting an opening in the snow on the ground. I rush to it and crawl my way into it, luckily fitting within the hole quite well. It was like a series of tunnels and channels leading further down underground, clearly closer to the warmth of the world. With my valiant effort to get warm, I finally find a large chamber of sorts. Really big actually as I find myself falling down into it and landing flat on my back. I groan out a small bit before staring up at the ceiling, finding it to be much farther up than I thought.

"Who are you?" I heard someone say and I quickly turn my head to find myself face to face with yet another dragon. Though this one was very different. They had a feminine look clearly and I only assumed female, and I stood up, dusting myself off. This dragon had wings for arms! And a very curvy body, possibly for better aerodynamic capability.

"I'm Cynder, a dragon from the west in the Dragonlands."

"Oh! So a non-native." She held out her paw and I grabbed it, shaking a bit. "I'm Lief, a Wyvern! Pleased to meet you."

A Wyvern? Yet another new dragon I was unfamiliar with. "Well, it's nice to meet a friendly face."

"No kidding… I'm one of the few wyverns here you can consider friendly. Most of my kind are aggressive and very deadly, my brother had been killed by another, but they say it's just the law of nature around here."

"I see… That is a bit… Concerning. By the way, where am I exactly?" I asked as I sat on my haunches.

"Oh! You're in Bundinn við ís, the land bound by ice!" The wyvern smiled, and I smiled back, great! I was in the right place.


	8. VIII - Beasts of a Throne

_**VIII - Beasts of a Throne**_

It was early morning now in Bundinn við ís, the obvious snowstorm had stopped and I was laying out in the snow, staring up at the sky. It wasn't as cold this morning, and Lief said it was okay to go outside now anyways. She had some hunting and fishing to do so she was out and away for the time being. "Oh boy… Out in another world already… I really wonder what Spyro and the others are up to… Bah… Why should I care for that purple boy anyways? I should be more concerned about these Crystal Shards. Though… I still do miss having him around at least to keep me company. Whatever…" I sighed for a few moments before my head perked to the sound of footsteps on the cold snow. I looked up and all around me, not seeing much of anything until I found a sudden wyvern pouncing onto me and pinning me down. These dragons were clearly very good at camouflage it seemed. "You filthy Westerner! How dare you invade our lands without permission, you no choice but to submit and face royal judgement! COME!"

"Hey hey wait a minute! That isn-" Before I could even finish my sentence I felt the bulky end of the wyvern's tall knock me right upside the head and I fell unconscious very quickly.

"...wake...up…!" I heard a voice call out, but I was still extremely winded and dazed from that tail smack. "WAKE UP!" I felt another tail smack me across the face and I shook my head, awake and primed, but...bound to a wyvern in plated armour. My wings were tied up and my paws chained up. My hind legs were spared the freedom of any sort of treatment but the rest of me was not. I felt a collar around my neck and I looked down to see the leash that was tied to it wrapped around the paw of the same armoured wyvern.

"Westerner, you have been called to the court of Draknor and presented in front of his Majesty, Lord Berkut, for Royal Judgement. Be ready to answer all questions present to you. Now bow before his majesty, Lord Berkut!" There was some sort of Loud Speaker of the court, getting my attention clear. All the other wyverns around me bowed and flagged their left wing up, flexing it in a way that seemed to resemble a crown. I was rather impressed.

"Westerner… Filthy...filthy westerner... " There was a dark, trembling voice that called out to me from the shadows, and I saw a larger wyvern emerge from a room behind the Ice Throne that sat in front of the door, hiding it from sight. This wyvern was of utmost the highest of regal you could find. His scales shined a glorious platinum and he had his own set of plated armour, cast from the finest of metals, seemed very close to some sort of chromium or cobalt. Either way, he was very much protected. A crown sat atop his head, clearly not fitting right as his horns got in the way, making it seem like it was going to fall off, but he never seemed to adjust it or complain about it. "Tell me, Black Dragon… Why have you come here… is there a reason for it? Have you come to make peace, or make war? Whatever it is… We here at Bundinn við ís do not want any of it!"

"Wait wait, its nothing like that your majesty… I just came in on a mission… Its very important and might sa-"

"Silence! I will not hear your slanderous lies! I know why you are here Westerner… Every one of your kind is a disgrace to dragons alike. The Easterners...the Southerners...us Northerners…" He circled around me, and I was yanked up with the leash, being forced to stand up straight, not allowed to sit or move, just, stand. "All you Westerners want is to conquer...and steal what belongs to other tribes of dragons. Whatever your intentions are, they are not, welcome here!" The Regal dragon smacked me across the face with his wing, cutting my cheek, leaving claw marks there. "That is much more lenient to what we do to dragons around here that trespass on Wyvern soil…"

"Your Majesty… if you'd just allow me to explain… I-"

"Silence at once! Another outburst and we won't hesitate to throw you into the Kleinn!" Lord Berkut smacked me again, and I flinched and tense. Lief wasn't kidding, these wyverns are serious and intense. "Now… Answer me this Westerner… Who sent you…?"

He looked to me as if I was nothing more than a peasant among his towering social status. "I came… myself. I came he-"

"All on your own?" Lord Berkut shook his head and turned on me, flicking his long tail, nearly smacking me on my cut cheek. "Alright then… For what purpose did you come?" The wyvern turned to me and I looked away a bit, the sun brightening his armour and making it near impossible to stare at him. "Look at me while you speak!" He turned my head back to meet his gaze with mine, my eyes squinting a bit.

"I came in search of the Crystal Shards, Lord Berkut… I need them to save everyone… There is some sort of threat terrorizing the Dragonlands and spreading the plague of the undead…" For all I know that could not be the only thing threatening the lands. Who knows? Surely someone over in the Dragonlands should know. "If… If I don't get these shards then this could put your lands in jeopardy too, your Majesty!"

"But what tells you that there are these so-called Crystal Shards here in the frozen North?" The regal dragon finally stepped out of the sunlight and I could see normally again. He grabbed the underside of my jaw with his talons and pulled my head down to meet his gaze. "What information was given to you to come search our lands…" He began to squeeze, growing irritated with my slight struggles and words I gave him. "Huh? Do you even have a warrant to search through our lands?!" He let go of my jaw and turned his back on me, stepping back to his throne.

"Wait your highness! I have come been given this information from the Easterners! You shared it with me and told me that I could find the other two here!" I struggled against the chains and the leash, being tugged back to place with it.

"I will no here any more of your fiendish lies Outsider. Take her to the Kleinn immediately!" With a swift flick of his wing, another guard came up and rather quickly clipped around leash onto my chained up paws. Another swift downward motion from Lord Berkut's wing must have been a motion for the guard's to send me off to the 'Kleinn'. Whatever that was. I just really hope that the Kleinn wasn't some sort of execution ring or area.

The guards took me outside and through the town that was lead down from the large palace. The town was a very monotone type of colour considering it seemed to be made of similar shades of blue and white. Some of these buildings didn't look to be very structurally sound since they were made of ice and snow. I saw the various types of Wyverns that roamed this land mostly in just this one area. It was exciting! Yet still just as embarrassing as I was being hauled off by chain and leash. The last time I was in a collar was when me and Spyro had gotten free from that crystal...and when we first encountered that giant golem elemental. And worse yet I was forced to stay on my hind legs. It was odd, but not too uncomfortable at the same time. At least I know how Neztal walks now. The heavily armoured guards pulled and tugged me towards a more dimmer looking area of the town where the density of wyverns and buildings grew thin until we made it out of the town. They hauled me through some sort of tunnel, watching to see where it would lead us before I smell the distinct scent of an unclean dragon.

"Get moving, Black Dragon!" One of the guards shouted at me and picked up the pace a bit, my hind legs were being tortured from such an unusual way for a quadruped dragon to walk, it strained the muscles more and they had more weight to carry then normal. As we travelled the length of the tunnel the scent was getting stronger and stronger, and I could barely keep up with it, my nostrils needed a break from this, but there clearly was no break. Suddenly the two guards stopped and they pulled tight on the leashes they were holding. I felt my hind paws leave the ground and I was suddenly thrown out of the tunnel and into the snow once more. Luckily I had a break from such a horrible smell but I looked up and my nose was filled with it again. I just had to bear with it though.

"You there, Black Dragon! Stand on your feet and prepare to be judged!" I found a spear pointed right at my face, mere centimetres away from the ridge of my snout. I slowly stood up, flicking my tail around softly before sighing. "Come! For you will be judged on your abilities!" I nodded softly and two more heavily armoured wyverns came to my sides and undid the chains from my paws, and I was able to walk on all fours again, and the strain on my hind legs was slowly relieved. Though I'd have to start moving again as the one with the spear grabbed the leash connected to the collar around my neck and tugged me into a building made of some sort of the same snow and ice that the other buildings were made of. I felt a paw on my hind end and it was forced to the ground with a growl before the guard left me in this dark room.

"Uh… Hello? Is anyone there?" I called out into the darkness, staring blankly into it before a light shined into the room. I looked around to find myself surrounded by a lot of tools and equipment. I wasn't sure what they were for that's for sure.

"Ah… Good evening young dragon. You seem very tense about somezing don't you?" A wingless dragon trotted into the room, pushing aside a few of these instruments aside and stepping in front of me.

"What...what kind of dragon are you?"

"Me? Vhy I am a drake from ze Southern Lands. And zis...zis is your test to see vat you are capable of, no?"


	9. IX - Mountain Cage

**_IX - Mountain Cage_**

The tests were so tedious and unnecessary. That Southern Drake had said he'd test me on everything that was apparently necessary to the cause of where ever I was. I had things stuck in me, pushed on me, hit against me, nearly everything for that matter. He told me they were for scientific purposes, but I hardly believed him. While I've always heard that the Southern Drakes were always technologically superior in every way they weren't really on the friendly side of things. They've been known in the past to take what they want and do whatever. A long few centuries ago there was a war between the Wyverns, Drakes, and Westerners. The Westerners lost due to lack of really any resources and supplies to keep on fighting, and the wyverns simply were simply just too old school for their own good, they were no match against the Drakes. For a long time the Drakes were the conquerors of the world as a whole, And not one dragon of any race could stop them. Then along came Malefor and well...the rest was set into motion. The Drakes haven't tried anything since then in fear of losing more. That was the thing they worried on most, losing another fellow Drake.

"Come with me Black Dragon. Ve vill put you vhere you belong." The Southern spoke to me after standing back up once again and moving onward out the door. "You vill enjoy your new position in here, Black Dragon. Zey vill put you through vigorous tasks zat you must complete or it's into ze Feral Kleinn with you." He pushed on my hind end to keep me moving.

"Well uh… thanks for the advice?" I wasn't really sure how else to respond to that. As he pushed me along the way I saw various...holding cells. They were similar to cages for caging up feral animals but some of these dragons...they weren't feral. They were horribly kept and only certain dragons had gotten their own cages but they didn't have much of the limelight either. It was very cramped and most of these dragons didn't even fit in the single cages. "What...is this place?"

"Zis young dragon is ze Kleinn, a prison to keep ze foreigners out of ze rest of ze population, as ze wyverns like to 'seperate ze good from ze filth'." He pushed me into a cage that was nearly empty. I saw a couple of other dragons in the cage too, they seemed to be Black Dragons like me, except for the one dragon right next to me. He was silver colored. "Enjoy your stay in ze Kleinn, Black Dragon. Zis is your final destination." He told me sternly before closing the cage and heading back the direction we came. I looked down at the ground, then looked at the sky. The skies were darker on this side of the mountain, and the Kleinn apparently sat in a bowl of towering mountains on every high wall. Wyverns with spears and javelins and crossbows surveyed the walls.

"Hello, fellow Black Dragon…" I looked back into the dragon pen I was now held captive in, and seeing another western dragon was a bit of a relief, though this one was missing the membrane on one of his wings. He also seemed to be here for a far longer time, as he was near the height of the guardians. "I am Gallnayis… and these are a few other Black Dragon who has also been captured by the Wyverns…" I vividly recall Malefor calling me the only Black Dragon to exist, it was the reason for my heightened prowess and elemental mastery, but… clearly, I was lied to.

"More..? But… I thought I was the only one…" I drooped my head slightly. The feeling of no longer being special settled into the back of my head and I sighed softly.

"Clearly lies as you can see now… I have been here for more than 6 centuries… I have only managed to survive because of being a Black Dragon… Not many others live to be so old…" He spoke to me as he gently laid on his stomach in front of me to survey my body a bit. "These two here are Meriguis and Tresdorna. The silver dragon here is Oznix."

"Well… It's great to meet all of you. But.. why are there only four of you here?"

"This is cage where they keep the dragons that are most useful… As we all here control a certain valuable element or more. Me, I control lightning, wind, frost, and illusion." Gallnayis nodded his head gently as I held up his paw, each claw on it glowing the color that each element represented.

"I control the elements of frost and Magicka" Meriguis turned to me. He was a Black Dragon sure, but of the Eastern variant, it seemed. While it was the good that the Wyverns didn't capture only just westerners, it was still just as horrible. Who knew dragons could be so cruel to other dragons? Sure we may be outside of each other's cultural spectrum and be of a different species, we are of the same race though. Tresdorna, the female of the bunch here flicked her tail and turned to face me. Her eyes were pale grey and she looked a bit confused.

"I have ze element of the mind… though I do not know vhy zey kept me alive. I am blind...as you can tell." She indeed was. I've heard about dragons without the ability to see, yet they always had some sort of power to control how the mind works and manipulate it at will. It's all freaky to me, but interesting nonetheless.

"And what about you Oznix?" I looked over to the silver dragon, though he said nothing. He simply sat there on the snow, staring at the ground.

"He has the elements of Magicka and Time, though we fear he is becoming feral… Tresdorna tells us his mind is fading into madness. Here in the Kleinn, you must keep a sharp mind… For if you don't you will end up in the Feral Kleinn. That is where they send the feral dragons to serve as...breeders and other sorts of things… for some purpose, we do not understand." Gallnayis looked to the ground, and the other two did as well. I followed suit soon after. I looked up to them and had seemed to move on from introductions into doing whatever it was they did in this limiting cage.

"I never thought it'd be possible to go feral… Guess I've just been pampered too much…" I waddled my way over to the far end of the cage, mostly away from the other dragons so I could have some piece to myself. I could hear the roars of a feral dragon far in the distance. The Feral Kleinn wasn't too far away it seemed, not far at all. As I stared out into the distance I slowly began to grow tired.

"Vat are you doing over here all on your lonesome?" Tresdorna strode over to me and looked in my direction but not at my face. I was a bit curious as to how she knew I was over here without anyone telling her.

"How did you know I'd be over here?"

"Zis is the end vhere every dragon zat's walked into zis cage has gone... "

"Oh." Well, there goes my great theory of how she could use her power of the mind.

"Yeah… You never told us your name by ze vay."

"Oh, sorry about that… I'm Cynder." I smiled a small bit, and with a delayed reaction, she smiled back.

"Vell it's nice to meet you Cynder! Vhat elements have you control over?" She seemed a bit shy at asking that. "Sorry for being so forward. Zats just the common question in zis cage."

"Oh no no, it's okay. Well if you must know, I control the elements of Poison, Fear, Wind, and Shadow. Though I have yet to unlock the last two within me again…"

"Oh...neat! I've never heard of someone vith ze ability to control shadows…" She turned her head towards the direction mine was facing early. "See zat road?" I nodded gently. "Zat is both the road to ze Feral Kleinn, and ze exit out of here. We've tried so many times to get out. Even vith Oznix ability to control time, yet it never lasts long enough for us to escape fully. I just want to go back home...but I think home doesn't even remember me anymore… " She sighed, and I patted her back with one of my wings, soon standing up and striding over to Gallnayis.

"Hello there youngling… Is there something you needed?"

"No… Nothing right now... " I lay down next to him and he nods his head before putting his down on his paws. It was starting to snow again, I could feel the thick, sticky snow starting to land on my back, and I quickly curled up. I looked at the others and they seemed to be dealing with it just fine, yet I was never use to this weather, so I needed some type of warmth against me. I tried to think of warm thoughts, hoping that would work, even as I tried to sleep.

I suddenly awoke in a grassy field. Was...that all a dream? I took one quick look around for sighing. No, that was reality. I was back in the Dawn Grasslands. I stood up and shook what I thought to be snow on my body, but it was in fact just loose dirt.

"Neztal?!" I called out to him, greatly concerned at what was going on and why I was back here. I was nowhere near the mirror pool, so I clearly had to find my way there. I never always did have a thorough look through the Dawn Grasslands, but...what was there to look at? There was the occasional tree spread out along the fields but, that was about it that kept the area from being plain. I trot through the tall grass, the light breeze that blew against it in a new direction every 20 seconds made it very peaceful. I did enjoy how the grass felt against my scales. I walked for a good few minutes, simply trying to enjoy the peace and quiet of it all. Maybe the Dawn Grasslands were just my happy place. It seemed to be likely, as it was so calmingly, just how I always wanted it. I soon found myself near the mirror pool once more. What a familiar sight that was. It sat on the ground in a small circle, unmoving. Still as can be, even with the breeze. The clearing around the pool was in a circle as well, though it faded into the tall grass neatly, giving it quite the effect.

 _-Hello, again Cynder…-_ Neztal was sitting on the other side of the mirror pool. He wasn't spectral-looking this time. I could see every detail in his scales now. Every fine detail of a fusion between Spyro and I. _-Cynder… It pains me to know how you and Spyro are falling apart… Your relationship… It's collapsing… And what do I find you doing…? Making it worse and worse…-_

"I…I know that… I've just been going through some rough times is all… I don't really feel like I can trust anyone anymore… You are sort of the only one I can trust nowadays." I looked away a bit before looking back over to him, standing up and striding over, then plopping my rump back down onto the grass right next to him. It was weird sitting next to him without him being all spectral and see-through, like….super odd. I glanced over every few moments to observe his features quickly before looking back to the mirror pool. "Why am I back here Neztal? Did you call me for a reason? Or is there something else you needed to talk about?

 _-Well, young dragon… I have come to talk about a few things… One on future events...one on your relationship...and one on your abilities. We'll start with the future events…-_ He waved one of his paws over the mirror pool and it started to shift and whirl a bit, the reflection of the bright sky disappearing. _-Cynder… the path you are going on has changed the course of events… and because of this… It will take longer for Domorah to take hold of the current situation… But with that being said it also gives him more time to summon powerful allies...-_ He flicked and jerked his paw around and an image of a dark green dragon appeared into focus. I couldn't see all of his bodily features as it was just his face showing. The dragon's face was very aged in terms of texture and had slight hints of decay in certain areas as well. _-This… is Domorah… He is the horrid Blight Dragon of ancient times… And through the use of his necromancy powers, he has become near immortal…-_

I've heard that name before. Back when the Elder Guardians had begun to train us in hopes of becoming the next Guardians to overtake them when they passed. Cyril would talk about him near non-stop, always telling us how and what he was like. I remember asking Cyril if he ever knew him personally, and his answer quite frankly shocked me. I had never thought Cyril ever had a sibling, but as it turned out, his sibling was Domorah. _-Whatever you do Cynder… you must stay strong… His time of return to Warfang is approaching…-_

"But… what can I do against a Necromancer Neztal? It seems all so farfetched… How am I…-" I stopped in the middle of my words and I looked around to see that the Dawn Grasslands were quickly fading away, and I looked over to Neztal, who was already unfortunately, and I began to panic before I was awake once more, panting and gasping as if I had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Cynder, come… It is time for daily tasks…" Gallnayis looked down at me. I was on my back on the snow.

"Daily tasks…? What...what do you mean?" I replied to him, clearly confused out of my mind.

"Here in the Kleinn, we do daily tasks… And for completing them we get free time… Now come...before they start getting impatient..."

It was somewhere around noontime. I could tell because the sun was directly over us, which was great. From how the Kleinn was positioned inside the mountains we hardly got sunlight, so it was always dark and gloomy here. I looked ahead of and behind me, seeing the long line we were forced to walk in. Guards were on either side of the line and armed if necessary. They guided us to some wide open area and they shoved us into rows of eight and they told us to stand up straight on our hind legs. They took a measure of all of us before telling to get into a different formation. From what I could tell it was shortest in front and tallest in back. This was when I knew that I was...more or less lacking in height. I was standing in the front, next to two other dragons who were of about the same height. Just before I was getting ready to start taking a peek around I heard a loud voice and I quickly stood up to attention just as everyone else did and out came a bipedal dragon. Not like the wyverns nor like the drakes. Nor like...any dragon I've known about for that fact.

"I see we have some newcomers in today's Order… Good afternoon all! I am 1st Captain Kardesh! Your Alpha! You have been sent here for one specific reason, it is because you are not welcome in our glorious society! We, the people of Bundinn við ís, do not accept any of you into our lands, and thus have been sent to the Kleinn to work and work until we are through with you! Now for today's task, every one of you will be sent over to the Feral Kleinn to onlook what happens when you try to escape! The second task for today will be tending to our ore supplies and making sure everything is in order! We will have more for you later today. Guards, take them to the Feral Kleinn!"

"Yes, sir!" And with that they rounded us back up, telling us to keep in our sizing order and took us down the road to the Feral Kleinn. I overlooked all the different paths and ways that the road had, zigzagging up and down the mountain path, keeping us constantly moving. I spotted a few paths that seemed to be blocked off and guarded by a few guards. These seemed to be either transport routes to the outside of the Kleinn or just heavily important areas. Either way, this got me thinking. It took a few good seconds for me to notice that we were turning down a road as I bumped into a guard, who rather forcefully shoved me back into line, and that's when I noticed where we were. The mountainous walls were much higher in this area and the sunlight didn't even hit most of the areas despite being directly above us.

"Oh, why hello! So nice to see you all here." The group of us turned our attention to a small dragon up on the railing above us, throwing chunks of meat out into the cage. He put the bucket down and gently flew to the front of the group where he'd introduce himself. "Gather around now… Come, come!" He waved his paws for us to come closer. "That's better. Welcome, to the Feral Kleinn! I'm Tyrfang, the quote on quote stable master around here!" He nodded his head. He seemed really cheery for someone working in a dark place such as this. Got me a little concerned at the most. "Here is where we take care of all the gone-feral dragons! As you may have noticed this is where you will go when you turn feral one day. But worry not, I am here to keep you alive so that may be useful to us still! We have many-" And he continued on and on about what they'd use these feral dragons for, some of which gave me a few chills up the spine. His voice sort of trailed off in my head as I thought to myself. My train of thought was broken though when I felt the other dragons start to move, so I followed suit.

"Now over here is where you get an up close and personal look at some of our more domesticated feral dragons! These guys are pretty harmless. Let's hope some of you turn out to be like these guys, and not like the one from yesterday." He motioned his head over to end of the wide open cage, pointing to the charred body of a blue drake. "He tried to escape yesterday. Luckily one of our lightning guards was on duty." I went back to thinking to myself while went on this guided tour through the Kleinn. Every cage was different. Every cage had another handle of feral dragons. I could hardly believe myself when I looked over some of them. We soon made our way back to the beginning of the Feral Kleinn and Tyrfang flew back up to his railing, feeding the feral dragons their lunch it seemed.

"Come on you lazy hatchlings, do your work!" We were relocated back to the Kleinn where we were to start our first of many tasks on menial tasks. We did things til midnight. And this would go on for the next four weeks I was here. Four, draining weeks of non-stop work, day in and day out. What was I supposed to do? Not do any work? Or do the work? I just wasn't sure anymore. Week seven rolled around and I've still been hard at it, trying my best to keep up as my body slowly was drained of its energy and mass. Week eight...week nine...week ten...They just went by like that. I was stuck. While I have been planning all this time to escape my horrid cage of nightmares as this was. We had so many newcomers within the next few weeks, yet they all turned pretty fast, either trying to fly out or break out. Either way, they all died. In the cage, we lost Oznix and Meriguis last week. Both turned feral after being put through solitary confinement. Gallnayis, Tresdorna, and I were the only ones left at this point. I had to think of something quick before I lost these two as well. But...I was running out of options. My mind was so full of other things that I was completely out of whack. Dragonlords...save me…


	10. X - The Return Home

_**X - The Return Home**_

(Yeah I know, sudden time skip, big deal! I'm just too lazy to write out Cynder's whole time there. I'd eventually run out of ideas and well… it'd kinda get boring… I'm almost done writing this anyways, this books only got a few more chapters in it before I start Spyro's story, so bare with me, but anyways, thanks for reading!)

 _Week 36 - Day…?_

 _I've been here for about 36 weeks now, though I'm unsure on the exact day anymore. Things have been going great, somewhat... I've been here in the Kleinn doing the same tasks over and over. We've escape attempt after escape attempt but they clearly never worked. I'm unsure of hat Spyro and the others are doing. I'm sure they've gotten ahold of the other two shards by now. And all the need now is mine… Though for, I can just pray that I can stay alive until I know I'm going home… For once… I regret everything… I really do… I need to tell that to Spyro… Just to make up for everything… I've rambled on enough now…_

I sighed as I put the book I had been writing in down and looked out of the cage. How could I have gotten caught up in this mess? I have a mission to do and well… Spyro and the others have been all the way ahead of me so far now. I still have mine thankfully but… That just makes me a high-value target for them. I'm not sure what to do anymore but wait at this point… It was just after midnight now and I shook my head a small bit, going to sleep with a pretty full conscience. Neztal has been there to guide me through any of my hard endeavors, so I truly was alone on this. Gallnayis and I were the last ones in the cage now. Tresdorna had been relocated to another cage somewhere on the other side of the Kleinn. Gallnayis was the only one I could rely on at this point.

"Gallnayis… Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" I turned my head to him. He was looking up at the night sky that was full of stars. I joined him by his side.

"I don't know young one… But one thing's for sure… we have to keep moving and following with the group. We can't let our minds be taken by the ancestors…" He looked away. "All we can do now is wait for something to happen.

I rested against his side, exhausted still from today's tedious activities. I looked up to the sky with him and sighed gently before my head perked at the sound of armor rustling outside the cage. I got up and looked out to see a group of wyverns gathering around Captain Kardesh. I haven't ever noticed it before, but the spear he carried, it was magically infused with loads of power, and upon the tip of the spear...thats when I saw it. I quickly turned my head to Gallnayis and flagged him over with my wings before turning back to face the mass of guards.

"What is it Cynder?" He said as he approached and sat next to me.

"Gallnayis...there's...a Crystal Shard inside the head of Kardesh's spear!"

"Oh… OH! This.. is this is some news but… But how do you plan to get it, Cynder?"

"That's simple. Just have to wait for it. These wyverns...they seem to be grouping up for something. But...what is that something?"

"I don't know Cynder…"

"Well… Whatever it is, they are clearly armed and ready for something." We sat there at the border of our cage, onlooking the guards before there was a loud roar and blast of lightning into the sky. At first, I thought that it may have been Volteer but… He hated the cold. That's when the guards started to run towards the entrance of the Kleinn, a nearly none staying behind to watch. I waited for something to happen before the sound of the lock being unlocked from our cage gate and I looked over to see Tyrfang unlocking it. He poked his head in and yelled out.

"Come on! There's been an attack on Draknor and we need to get out! The guards can't handle whoever it is!" He quickly ran to the other cages, unlocking them as well. Gallnayis and I made our way out of the cage and looked around. Gallnayis looked to the entrance of the Feral Kleinn while I looked towards the entrance of the Kleinn.

"Cynder come on! Going that way is suicide, we have to go out through the transport road!" He insisted.

"I can't Gallnayis, I have to get the shard! If we both get out, meet me near Warfang, now go! I can handle myself out there!" I quickly began to run towards the entrance and Gallnayis tried to stop me, but he went on his own way back towards the transport road. With every step I took, I was on my way home, freedom at last, but I wasn't homebound yet. I saw the mass of guards running toward the city of Draknor and I began to follow suit, yet I quickly stopped to look over the sudden appearance of dead wyverns on the ground. The undead was attacking. Which could only mean… Domorah. I looked along the bodies of the undead and wyverns, trying to see if there was any available armor when I spotted an armored drake on the ground, dead. I quickly took off her armor and put it on myself, making it fit just right. I felt like a Dragonknight in this armor, and I felt great! I quickly ran toward to entrance of the tunnel I had come down and I saw more and more guards bunched up, holding off the horde of the undead all around the city. I looked towards the Palace to see a large hole in it, which was where all the guards were trying to get to, yet the undead just kept coming and coming. I had to head there next, hoping to find Captain Kardesh in there.

I ran past all the guards, looking at them as some of them shouted at me to come help, but then told them that I had specific orders to come help at the castle defence and they left me alone, I found a spear along my way to the castle and I ran faster, placing the spear on my back, it wasn't long before I finally reached the entrance of the Palace, looking around there were masses of bodies piled up in the interior halls of the castle, undead and wyvern alike. I stood on my hind legs and held my spear in my paws, looking around for a moment. It was oddly silent now, it seemed the onslaught of the undead had stopped for the moment, though I kept my guard up, surveying my area before approaching the grand hall where I had first been. I saw Lord Berkut laying on the floor, dead, under the towering body of Domorah, holding, soon turning his head to me.

"Ah… How wonderful to finally meet you Cynder… Come closer so that I may get a better look at such dashing young Black dragon-like yourself…" He turned his body and stepped closer to me, to which I started to step back from him, my back soon hitting the wall, my spear pointed at him.

"Stay back Domorah!" I shouted at him, yet he just kept coming closer and closer before Captain Kardesh came rushing in and stabbing the necromancer dragon on the side.

"Take that, you vile Westerner!" He yelled out as he drove the spear deeper into his side, to which Domorah began to pull away and he growled out to the Captain, throwing his head to the side to smack Kardesh in the side bluntly.

"You'll regret that Drake!" The necromancer dragon roared out and unsheathed his large claws, looking at the Captain as he began to rush at him. I stood back as I watched the fight take place, swipes of the claws and tail and stabs of the spear towards the necromancer, not much was connecting but it soon all stopped when Kardesh took a bad hit to the side, those poisoned claws digging into his side as he soon fell down, wobbly and shifty a bit. He looked over to me, shaking a bit before throwing his spear my way. "T-take it, and get out of here!" He growled to me and I caught the spear in my paws before making my escape. I looked back to see if he what would become of him, though it wasn't too pretty to watch let's just say that. I ran as fast as I could, now both spears in my paws. That was my first moments face-to-face with Domorah. He looked so horrible in person all his skin and scales were rotting away yet he still looked so alive… I looked back once more to see if Domorah was following me, but luckily he wasn't. I sighed a bit and flew back to the west in hopes of getting back home and telling everyone about my conundrum.

I flew for about an hour or two, no one else in sight but just me, and the ocean under me. Being in that camp for so long kept my body rather… weak. Every flap of my wings drove me closer and closer to exhaustion, and soon it would be too much for me to bare. I could feel myself dropping altitude and before long I hit the water, and I hit it hard. "C-can't… keep flying… Ugh… Waters… Take me home…" I said into the air before I drifted unconscious. I wasn't sure where I was going, but one thing's for sure, I hope to drift on home.

It must have been a long time, but I was soon awoken to the feeling of something pecking at my stomach. I groaned and lifted my head, shooing away the seagulls pecking at my stomach. I shook my head softly and groaned again, looking around at my surroundings as I soon stood up. I felt my back, feeling both spears on my back still. At this point, I wasn't completely sure if I still had that first shard on me still. I started to panic that I had lost it in the ocean. I felt on my body, placing a paw on my satchel and digging my paw into it before sighing softly. It was still in there, thank goodness the guards weren't smart enough to take it off. I still had my armor on, and it still fit me so perfectly. I sighed and sniffed the air a bit and waved my tail gently. "Home… Home!" I smiled a bit and looked around, soon starting to walk my way towards the grassland, and before long I saw home, Warfang. This leads me to believe that I had landed near Warfang, lucky me. I began to make my home, sighing out in relief when I approached the gated wall. I dragged my paw along the wall before I looked inside, flicking my tail around softly. I saw everyone in the city gathered around the main square. Cyril was standing in the middle of the crowd, spouting some speech. I decided to make my way in, stepping in slowly and carefully before I felt someone grab ahold of my tail and pull me back outside. "Hey watch- Oh!" It was Gallnayis. "Oh thank gods you made it out alive…"

"It was a bit rather hard to make it out but sure enough I did." Gallnayis nodded his head softly and looked back a bit. "I was also able to bring a few others along for the ride." He motioned his tail a bit and a few other dragons stepped out into the open, and, a wolf.

"Satoshi? Narzel?" They were both indeed there, Narzel came floating up to me and gave me a big ol' hug, squeezing me tightly.

"Oh, it's soooooooo good to see you again Cynder! You look awful though… What happened to you?"

"It's a long story Narzel."

"Well, either way, it is indeed great to see you again Cynder." Satoshi came up and pat me on the head, he had his katana with him this time. "We have come all this way just so we could finally get to see Warfang. And I must say, the Dragonlands are quite lovely."

"Yeah, I agree with you there. Beautiful fields all around!" I smiled at the wolf standing before me. I turned back to the inside of the gate and looked at the crowd still in there, though they were all waiting for someone to come and speak to them. I looked back to my newfound friends before nodding my head a bit. "Okay… I know this may sound crazy… but I'm going to need full support from you guys…"

"Do not worry Cynder… whatever happens, we will be with you!" The others nodded.

"Thanks, guys. Here's the game plan… Well… it's not so much of a plan more or less just a way for me to retrieve the other crystal shards. We can't let them finish the Crystal… it could mean the end of us all!"

Gallnyais looked into the crowd a small bit and nodded his head, soon perking a bit as he pointed toward the main stage. This prompted me and Satoshi to stick out our heads and to see what it was. "Cynder… is that..?"

"Yes, Gallnayis… that is the nearly completed Crystal. They only need two more pieces of it… And fortunately… they won't be able to get the other two… not while I'm still alive." I stood up on my hind paws and pulled my Spear off my back. It was rather easy for me to do so nowadays considering I was put through those rough weeks of having to do so. I sighed and looked back at them before nodding calmly. It was… Going to be tough… but it had to be done. Whatever punishment or judgment I face, whatever they throw my way, just… Whatever happens. I'll be ready for it, we all will!


	11. XI - No Forgiveness

_**XI - No Forgiveness**_

It wasn't easy stepping into Warfang like this. After all, I've been gone for so long and no one has seen any evidence of me since that last time Spyro showed up in Howaito. After that though, everyone had presumed me dead. I don't blame them, I'm pretty much a dead dragon walking. I shouldn't be alive, I mean after all the stuff I went through and such. It's just way too much. I made my way into the city with no regard. My new friends were by my side and well… I had nothing to fear… nothing to worry about. "HEY!" Oh boy… what was I doing? I saw faces and eyes turn to face me, inspecting my new body and friends, especially since I was now walking on two legs. It just...seemed it has been like all second nature. I could hear whispers and mumbles coming from the other dragons in the crowd as we strolled up, parting a path through them as I walked up to the stage.

"Cynder?! What in the hell do you think you're doing back in Warfang?" Spyro had quickly hopped down to greet me with that same surly tone he gave me back in the forest. "We certainly cannot have a traitor walking amongst us now, can we? This news may be new to you but you have been banished from the Dragonlands. Exiled!"

"Me? A traitor? You've got to be joking. I'm not the one over here trying to bring a necromancer dragon to his full power!" I spoke up, the crowd gave a confused murmur and I huffed, placing my paws on my hips. "And I quite know that the events that lead me to stand on my two feet now have deemed me a traitor…" I turned my head back to the crowd, giving a slight huff. "But I'm not here for talk, Spyro…" My body felt a fire rising inside it… I turned my body away from them, huffing and soon pulling the spear from my back, holding it in my grasp. "As far as your concerned… I'm here to break the crystal and be rid of those offending shards!" I quickly turned back to face the purple dragon, pressing the very tip of my spear to his throat. I could see the sudden terror in his eyes. "And I'm not afraid of killing anyone who gets in my way… now move!"

"Cynder… you've gotten out of your head… pull your mind away from the gutter and just go. You don't have any hope of accomplishing such a task…" He pulled himself away from the pointed end of my spearhead and he huffed, quickly hopping back up on the stage, standing in front of the Crystal I was now bent on destroying. "But we cannot allow you destroy the Crystal! It's a priceless artifact! Its apart of our history, Cynder! I won't allow it. Now leave before you face the wrath of the Council…" The look in his eyes had changed from that of fear to determination. That same look I had seen all those many years ago when we finished off Malefor. I shook the thought away and took my readied stance, growling and snarling, spear at the ready. "Fine then… I see how it is… Cynder, your return to Warfang was a grave mistake! Now you and your company shall be banished from this realm and plain by the Council! Begone!" Spyro lowered his body and opened his maw, soon Cyril, Terrador, Volteer, and even Bläyz and Adäh. They had all turned against me… my past friends, turning against me. Ready to strike me down under the Order of the Council. I would not let them have their way of course. I watched as the crowd of dragons quickly dispersed and scattered, running from the soon to be battle.

"Alright...so that's how it'll be…" I took a step back, just as I did the dragons on the stage let out their elemental breaths, all aimed towards me. Those beams of elements would meld and fuse into one right before my eyes. I had only ever done this once when we had banished Flame from the realm. It's an amazing sight while you are the one performing it...but being the one on the other end of it, well it's a very terrifying thing to behold. A twisting ray of fused elements pouring together to make one, white, blinding beam. I stuck my spear towards it, holding still and proper, my paws gripping it tightly. It was that same spear that Captain Kardesh had given me. I still don't understand why… maybe he knew all about Domorah too...and the crystal shards. My thought was broken when the ensuing beam hit the tip of my spear, and I could feel the raw power against my paws as though I was holding it back with them. The crystal tip of it was durable, magically infused to never break. Of course, it wouldn't unless say, another crystal shard was to peel it out. I held still to my ground, eyes closed shut as the magical spear I held split the beam and shot it off in random directions, but none hitting me. Gallnayis and then others had quickly shuffled behind me yo stay out of the way of the scattered beams. I could feel the shard's energy staying strong, holding together as it fended off the raw energy the dragons the stage had poured from their throats until it all stopped. Once it was over, all I heard was the sizzling of the tip of my spear, superheated and glowing a deep red, the crystal shard within it still glowing its natural blue color. It soon cooled, and hardened, retaining its form. "A-ahh… I'm...still alive…" The dragons on stage were clearly unpleased with this.

"Alright… that's it… enough playing around! Time to get serious…" Spyro and Adäh had hopped off the stage, Bläyz quickly following behind and stepping beside them. "Cynder… I wasn't hoping it would come to this...but you leave us with no choice! Will have to settle this by tooth and claw…" And with that, they lept toward me, threatening to end my life right here, right now. I quickly took guard and held my spear up, Spyro tackling me over to the ground, the both of us sliding towards the open gate. There was fighting all around us as it quickly included my new friends and the rest of the Council. My focus quickly returned to the purple dragon on top of me, holding my spear firm against his chest, trying to hold him back. His claws scraped and slashed across the sides of my face and near my neck, though the rest of me was covered thanks to all the wyvern armor. It wasn't long until I had succeeded in what I wanted to do, tossing him off me so I could push back onto my feet and ready my stance again. I leaned into my run and charged at him, determined to stab through him if I had to, but it was of no use. Being on two legs made it more difficult to keep up in speed, so he was able to out dodge me, and outspeed me. I tried my best to stab him and pierce his scales with my magical spear but still, dodge after dodge he would avoid it, and soon he tackled me again, my paws losing their grip on the polearm, and it was sent flying through the open gate. Again and again, he tried to slash and rip into me but to no avail, my armor had saved me of many wounds. I had to change up my strats and I quickly did, sort of like switching gears I was now back in my quadruped status of thinking, and I used my hind legs to kick him up and over me. He did a flip through the air before landing on his paws and quickly returning to the attack. I had hopped onto all four of my paws and I charged right at him, though this time I pounced.

We tumbled and rolled out of the gate and into the grassy field, no one around...just me...and him. This was where we would decide it. I pushed myself away from him and we went flying in two different directions, both of us seem to land on our backs though with a hard thud.

"Ugh… just die already!" I heard him shout and he was bounding toward me by the time I was able to register what was going on. I quickly stood up, readied myself, and growled.

"Come on… Fight me like a man!" I shouted back at him, running right toward him, and we clashed, slamming into each other at full force. It hurt. My armor broke from the blunt force of his horns against my body. I hadn't noticed him lowering his head to charge until it was too late. Once we collided I was sent flying, went tumbling back and back until I hit my backside against a stray rock. The pain was nearly unbearable after the collision. I thought I had broken my back, but I certainly could still move so that was a good thing. I struggled to get my, groaning and panting as the pain surged through my body like how my own blood did, and just as I had gotten back to my paws, Spyro rammed into me again, his horns smacking into my stomach, shoving me back into the rock and pinning me to it. "AHHH! F-FUCK!" I was screaming at the top of my lungs, he was just so much stronger than I was! I couldn't believe it… What had made him so damn tough?! I screamed out as those horns bore into my stomach, piercing through the soft scales of my underbelly. He was so bent on killing me I doubted that he'd let up. I pushed him in time though before his horns would dig in too deep. It was only a matter of time before he was pouncing toward me, then pinning me to the ground, claws shoved against my neck and holding onto it, squeezing it. I gripped onto his wrist, digging my claws into them with the hopes of him letting go before the breath would leave my body. The more he would put on the pressure, so did I, and soon, he let go, paws dripping with his own blood and my claws stained with it. Spyro did seem to care as he was quickly back on the attack. I shook my head and stood up as quick as I could, bleeding from the stomach as I now readied my tail, holding firm. Without a second thought, I charged right back at him once again, my tail held out to the side of me like a lance, my head lowered a bit, his head down at the same level as mine, charging at me. I was determined to finish the job now, to really not hold back now. I had to let my body do the commands, not my mind. We kept racing towards each other. I could feel the world around getting slower and slower as my need to kill began to grow. It was… Like I was going back to roots. Whatever happens next, I was prepared for it, whether it be good or bad.

With the world slowed down around me I was completely unaware of how close he actually was until I could hear his breathing. I quickly pulled myself back, braced myself, digging my claws into the ground. He rammed me again, though I held firm and I quickly jumped onto him, sending the both of us tumbling down the hill we were on, we traded slashes and swipes of our claws, penetrating scales and clawing them off, though soon, that would all come to an end. I have had enough of this, and my mind was filled with nothing but that dark force I once had, those happy memories, replaced with ones of hate and disgust for this purple dragon. I found myself on top of his squirming body.

"Give it a rest Cynder! You know you can't beat me!" He yelled into my face, and growled at him, pushing my paw down against his throat, holding firm as I open my maw, and let loose a torrent of that elemental power I had in myself. My tongue burned with the unfamiliar feeling of that seeping poison, letting it wash over the head of the restrained purple dragon. I didn't let up, not even for a second until he kicked harshly at my midsection, rather effectively throwing me off of him. I landed onto my side and groaned out in pain, few drops of poison dripping from my maw. I looked to the offending dragon to see that I had at least did some damage to him, not enough to ward him off permanently, but enough to really leave a lasting scar. He was severely bleeding, his use to be scaled snout now missing the purple shine of those tough scales, only left with the tip of his nose being bone, though the rest of his snout looking like that of rotting flesh off of a necrodragon. His eyes were saved from the torrent of poison I had given him, but not so much of his face, parts of it still sizzling as the poison worked through the flesh to get to the bone. He looked horrid… and I had done it...it was my fault that he looked like that. I wanted to say something as that emotional side of me kicked in, but I had to refuse it. He wouldn't show any sympathy for me, so I would have to not do the same. He had slowly risen to his paws, swaying weakly now.

"M-my god you look horrible…" I finally spoke up, panting under my breath as my wounds had finally kicked in again.

"Yeah… No shit! This is all your fault… Don't deny it!" He stomped angrily toward me, blood dripping from his face. The sizzling had stopped, but his skull was showing quite profusely now. "I knew this day would come… The day my friends told me I would dread… When I had to be rid of the Black Dragon that nearly wiped the rest of us out… And here we are… Me… The purple dragon of Legend… and you... The daughter of Malefor…" He strolled closer and I had to do something. I looked around, hoping I would find my spear, but unfortunately, I had forgotten that that was back within Warfang, most likely still sitting on the ground where it had been knocked out of my paws. I then remember my tail. I was going to use it before! But one thing leads to another and I had continued to forget about it. But now was the right time to use it. I got up, padding weakly over to him as my wounds begged me to stop moving, but I trekked on, and soon we were head to head again. I looked him dead in the eyes, growling snarling a bit, my tail flicking around angrily.

"It's about time we draw this relationship to a close… I've had just about enough of you and your damn purpleness…" I growled, bearing my teeth as I readied my tail, pushing up against him. We were both weak, after that acid bath I had given him it seemed to drain him of his energy, though with him pushing me around I had barely any left. My chest was pressed to his, I could feel his quickened heartbeat, and then I felt one of his paws resting on my side, possibly to hold me still all was I could assume.

"Fine by me… See you in Hell…" He replied, and with such, I stabbed my tail forward, moving to pierce through his stomach and out into his chest. Though...Something felt off… Suddenly I had coughed up blood, and I pulled away a bit. It seemed...He had the same idea. Un...fortunately… "Unfortunately for you Cynder… You didn't make it out on top." He pulled me close and wrapped his forelegs around me. My body trembled as that tail of his had completed the job, as where mine had not. "It's okay… you'll be with the rest of the traitors… I'll remember you though…" I hadn't realized how he had done it. I had completely glossed over the fact of his own elemental powers. He had made himself an Earthen blade tail and sunk it right through my body, in through my stomach, out through my back.

"O….Oh... " Tears started to well in my eyes, I could feel myself losing consciousness. "Spyro… I'm...sorry… for everything…"

"Cynder… It's too late for sorry… You've hurt me enough… And now it's time I return the favor… Say hello to Flame for me…" And that was when he drove the Earthen blade of his tail deeper into me, causing me to groan out in pain as I dug my claws into him, piercing his scales but it was to no avail, as my efforts had only lead me to scream louder, then...it stopped…


	12. Epilogue

**_Epilogue_**

 **(Hey, this is just a short thing after Chapter XI that'll tell a little bit about how Tragedy of the Dragons will start, but it'll be in Spyro's POV since...ya know… And when I say short, this is all it will be. Just a little teaser for you to read if you want to. If not, then go ahead and wait for when I do start posting the Tragedy of the Dragons chapters. Though that won't be for a while of course. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this story of mine! I know its not perfect and I know I got some things wrong here and there but, gimme a break, it was my first story! Anyways, bye y'all!)**

I held Cynder against me for what seemed like forever, her screams only driving me I dig the blade I had made in deeper and deeper into her until her screams were silenced by the blade itself. Her claws dug sharply into my hide and I growled out, soon pulling my tail away from her, the rocky blade disappearing into the wind that had kicked up around us. Her grip slowly loosened and I pulled my head back to look at her, blood dripping from her stomach and leaking from her mouth a bit. This… This event here...had defined me as a new dragon. I realized to myself… Oh god… What have I done? I killed the one dragon that cared for me...the one dragon that had stood by my side for so many years. The dragon that I was… going to be happy with for the rest of my life… She was now...dead… by my own paws. I held her tighter, starting to sob against her now lifeless corpse, soon the both of us toppling to the ground as I held her.

"Oh, gods… Why… why did I do it…? What came over me… What was the point?!" I let go of her body and rolled over onto my own back. I could feel the blood from her body pouring out toward my own as it rested there. "N-no… it… it Had to be done! She was a traitor… I couldn't trust her! No one could…" I kept coming up with excuses for myself, trying to forget, lamenting the death of the black dragon next to me. "Cynder… I'm sorry. It's all my fault now, not yours. I should have listened sooner. And now look where it took me! I drove me to something I didn't want to be, not again of course. That cursed dark energy that pumps through me. I could feel it trying to take over." I kept talking to myself until finally snapping out of it. I stood up, looked over the corpse of my previous kill, and I gently lifted her up off the ground, painfully carrying her back into Warfang. It seemed the other dragons had stopped fighting by the time I was back in. Everyone was injured, wounded, though...a couple dead too, unfortunately. It came to my surprise to find Volteer… Volteer! I quickly rushed over, dropping the corpse I had on my back to stand next to the dead Guardian. Cyril and Terrador were there with me. The others I hadn't noticed where they were.

"Spyro… It seems in the aftermath of our fighting…"

"Poor poor Volteer was a victim of the Dragon Reaper." Cyril turned to me and placed a paw on my shoulder. "And it seems Cynder has succumbed to the same fate."

"Indeed she has… We managed to work things out after Volteer had taken a fatal wound to the chest." Terrador pointed out, my eyes diverting to large gash across the yellow dragon's chest.

"Jeez… What about Adäh, and Bläyz? Are they okay?" And after I had asked Adäh came limping over to me, nodding his head calmly.

"Yeah Spyro, we're fine… Though, Bläyz is in the medical ward right now… She took some serious damage in the fighting…" He sat down, holding his left foreleg a bit.

"And what of Cynder's group?" I looked around, only spotting the body of a large Black Dragon and a wolf. Both still moving with their gentle breathing.

"Not all of them were as fortunate as these two. The black dragon Gallnayis was the one that took down Volteer, with the help of the wolf over there. The Eastern dragon and the others that came with them didn't seem to survive the fighting."

"I see… Well… We can fix all of this… right? With the Crystal?" I asked, Terrador and Cyril looked at me, frowns upon their faces.

"I'm afraid, not young one… The Crystal cannot reverse something as deep as death…" Terrador told me, soon standing up and lifting up the body of Volteer over himself. "Come now… we must do the proper funeral for our fallen comrade." And off he was, Cyril and Adäh following him. I sighed and picked up Cynder's body once more, carrying her off with them.


End file.
